Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2017 Nov 3;12(11):e0187458.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187458. eCollection 2017.

Evaluation of a multiplex panel for the diagnosis of acute infectious diarrhea in immunocompromised hematologic patients

Izaskun Alejo-Cancho  1 , Francesc Fernández Avilés  2 , Alicia Capón  1 , Cristina Rodríguez  1 , Josep Barrachina  1 , Pilar Salvador  1 , Mª Eugenia Valls  1 , Miriam J Álvarez-Martínez  1 , Yuliya Zboromyrska  1 , Jordi Vila  1 , Mª Ángeles Marcos  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Evaluation of a multiplex panel for the diagnosis of acute infectious diarrhea in immunocompromised hematologic patients

Izaskun Alejo-Cancho et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Introduction: Diarrhea is a frequent complication in hematologic patients, being an infectious cause frequently suspected. Rapid and accurate detection of gastrointestinal pathogens is vital in immunocompromised hosts. The aim of this study was to compare routine diagnostic methods versus a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the diagnosis of infectious diarrhea in immunocompromised hematologic patients.

Material and methods: We conducted a prospective observational study from March 2015 to January 2016 to compare conventional methods for the diagnosis of infectious diarrhea with FIlmArray GI Panel (BioFire-bioMérieux, France). Samples from adult immunocompromised hematologic patients with acute diarrhea were collected. In cases with discordant results, a second multiplex assay was performed (Allplex, Seegene, Korea). The result was considered positive or negative when the same result was obtained by at least two of the methods.

Results: A total of 95 samples were obtained from 95 patients (median age of 52 years (46-64)). Sixty-one (64%) episodes were hospital-acquired and 34 (36%) were community-acquired diarrhea. Twenty-five (26%) patients had a positive microbiological result, being Clostridium difficile the most frequent pathogen, followed by Campylobacter spp and norovirus. The concordance between FilmArray methods was good (k = 0.79). The FilmArray GI panel showed a sensitivity of 95%, a specificity of 100% for positive results. The time required to obtain results was markedly reduced with the use of multiplex PCR methods.

Conclusions: Multiplex molecular panels provide a rapid and sensitive tool for the diagnosis of infectious diarrhea, thereby allowing more timely clinical decisions in immunocompromised hematologic patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Krones E, Högenauer C. Diarrhea in the Immunocompromised Patient. Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2012;41: 677–701. doi: 10.1016/j.gtc.2012.06.009 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Deng J, Luo X, Wang R, Jiang L, Ding X, Hao W, et al. A comparison of Luminex xTAG® Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel (xTAG GPP) and routine tests for the detection of enteropathogens circulating in Southern China. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. Elsevier Inc.; 2015;83: 325–330. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2015.07.024 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gu Z, Zhu H, Rodriguez A, Mhaissen M, Schultz-Cherry S, Adderson E, et al. Comparative Evaluation of Broad-Panel PCR Assays for the Detection of Gastrointestinal Pathogens in Pediatric Oncology Patients. J Mol Diagnostics. American Society for Investigative Pathology and the Association for Molecular Pathology; 2015;17: 715–721. doi: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2015.06.003 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Guerrant RL, Gilder T Van, Steiner TS, Thielman NM, Slutsker L, Tauxe R V, et al. Practice Guidelines for the Management of Infectious Diarrhea. Clin Infect Dis. 2001;32: 33150 doi: 10.1086/318514 - DOI - PubMed
    1. National Institute of Cancer. Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE). NIH Publ. 2010;2009: 0–71. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2010.489653 - DOI

Publication types