Evaluation of the diagnostic performance of panfungal polymerase chain reaction assay in invasive fungal diseases

Timely diagnosis of invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) is important, as delays in treatment initiation are associated with increased mortality rates. However, early diagnosis of IFDs in immunocompromised patients remains difficult. The conventional diagnostic methods currently used for IFDs are not suf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental and therapeutic medicine 2017-11, Vol.14 (5), p.4208-4214
Main Authors: Cao, Guo-Jun, Xing, Zhi-Fang, Hua, Li, Ji, Yu-Hua, Sun, Jia-Bin, Zhao, Zhen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
blood sample
Cancer
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Disease
DNA
early diagnosis
Genetic testing
invasive fungal diseases
Laboratories
Leukemia
Medical diagnosis
Methods
panfungal polymerase chain reaction
Patients
Polymerase chain reaction
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:Timely diagnosis of invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) is important, as delays in treatment initiation are associated with increased mortality rates. However, early diagnosis of IFDs in immunocompromised patients remains difficult. The conventional diagnostic methods currently used for IFDs are not sufficiently effective. Molecular tests, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays, have great potential to improve the early diagnosis of IFDs due to their sensitivity and specificity. In the present study, the diagnostic performance of panfungal PCR assays in IFD patients who received bone marrow transplantation was evaluated. The results suggested that panfungal PCR assay offered a quick and convenient guide for clinical decision-making by identifying higher numbers of fungal species in comparison with the conventional blood culture method. Furthermore, panfungal PCR assay exhibited a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 71% in the diagnosis of IFD patients based on the EORTC/MSG criteria. Thus, the present study concluded that the reported PCR-based method was effective and sensitive in early IFD diagnosis and should be integrated into clinical decision-making for the treatment of IFDs in the future.
ISSN:1792-0981
1792-1015
DOI:10.3892/etm.2017.5081