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
Review
. 2022 Jul 30;11(8):1028.
doi: 10.3390/antibiotics11081028.

Assessment of the Impact of a Meningitis/Encephalitis Panel on Hospital Length of Stay: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Kyle D Hueth  1 , Philippe Thompson-Leduc  2 , Todor I Totev  3 , Katherine Milbers  2 , Tristan T Timbrook  1 , Noam Kirson  3 , Rodrigo Hasbun  4
Affiliations
Review

Assessment of the Impact of a Meningitis/Encephalitis Panel on Hospital Length of Stay: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Kyle D Hueth et al. Antibiotics (Basel). .

Abstract

Meningitis and encephalitis are central nervous system infections with considerable morbidity and mortality. The BioFire® FilmArray® Meningitis/Encephalitis Panel (multiplex ME panel) can identify pathogens rapidly potentially aiding in targeted therapy and curtail antimicrobial exposure. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized the literature on the association between the multiplex ME panel and length of hospital stay (LOS), length of acyclovir therapy, and days with antibiotics. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched. Only studies presenting novel data were retained. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed to assess the impact of the multiplex ME panel on outcomes. Of 169 retrieved publications, 13 met the criteria for inclusion. Patients tested with the multiplex ME panel had a reduction in the average LOS (mean difference [MD] [95% CI]: -1.20 days [-1.96, -0.44], n = 11 studies). Use of the multiplex ME panel was also associated with a reduction in the length of acyclovir therapy (MD [95% CI]: -1.14 days [-1.78, -0.50], n = 7 studies) and a nonsignificant reduction in the average number of days with antibiotics (MD [95% CI]: -1.01 days [-2.39, 0.37], n = 6 studies). The rapidity of pathogen identification contributes to an overall reduced LOS, reductions in the duration of empiric antiviral utilization, and a nonsignificant reduction in antibiotic therapy.

Keywords: diagnostic techniques; encephalitis; meningitis; neurological; patient care; polymerase chain reaction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

N.K., P.T.-L., T.I.T. and K.M. are employees of Analysis Group, Inc. (Boston, MA, USA), a consulting company that has received research funding from BioFire Diagnostics, L.L.C. (Salt Lake City, UT, USA), for the conduct of this study. K.D.H. and T.T.T. are employees of BioFire Diagnostics, L.L.C. BioFire Diagnostics, L.L.C. was involved in the study design, data collection, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and publication decisions. R.H has received research support and personal fees from BioFire Diagnostics, L.L.C.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study Selection Flow Diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Hospital Length of Stay. CI: confidence interval; MD: mean difference; ME: meningitis and/or encephalitis. a Analysis was performed on the subgroup of patients whose time to discharge was ≤18 days, n = 95.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Length of Acyclovir Treatment. CI: confidence interval; MD: mean difference; ME: meningitis and/or encephalitis. a One patient (of 19) in the pre-intervention group received an antiviral that was not acyclovir.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Days of Treatment with Antibiotics. CI: confidence interval; MD: mean difference; ME: meningitis and/or encephalitis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Tansarli G.S., Chapin K.C. Diagnostic test accuracy of the BioFire® FilmArray® meningitis/encephalitis panel: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Off. Publ. Eur. Soc. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 2020;26:281–290. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2019.11.016. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Greenlee J.E. Acute Bacterial Meningitis. Medical Topics & Chapters, Volume 2021. Merck Manual Professional Version, 2020. [(accessed on 21 July 2022)]. Available online: https://www.msdmanuals.com/en-sg/home/brain,-spinal-cord,-and-nerve-diso....
    1. van de Beek D., Cabellos C., Dzupova O., Esposito S., Klein M., Kloek A.T., Leib S.L., Mourvillier B., Ostergaard C., Pagliano P., et al. ESCMID guideline: Diagnosis and treatment of acute bacterial meningitis. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. 2016;22:S37–S62. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2016.01.007. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tunkel A.R., Glaser C.A., Bloch K.C., Sejvar J.J., Marra C.M., Roos K.L., Hartman B.J., Kaplan S.L., Scheld W.M., Whitley R.J. The Management of Encephalitis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clin. Infect. Dis. 2008;47:303–327. doi: 10.1086/589747. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zunt J.R., Kassebaum N.J., Blake N., Glennie L., Wright C., Nichols E., Abd-Allah F., Abdela J., Abdelalim A., Adamu A.A., et al. Global, regional, and national burden of meningitis, 1990–2016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet Neurol. 2018;17:1061–1082. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30387-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources