Ruth Reitzel
Tanzania
Research Article
The Performance of Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction and Galactomannan for Invasive Fungal Infections in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies
Author(s): Ray Hachem, Ruth Reitzel, Ying Jiang, Roy F Chemaly, Xiang-Yang Han and Issam RaadRay Hachem, Ruth Reitzel, Ying Jiang, Roy F Chemaly, Xiang-Yang Han and Issam Raad
Background: Non-invasive methods to diagnose invasive fungal infections are needed to improve the poor outcome of these infections. We conducted this study to evaluate the diagnostic values of quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction and galactomannan in hematological malignancy patients.
Results: Eighty-two consecutive patients with cancer were identified and prospectively followed for three
months. Molecular testing using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay amplifying two primers 5.8S and 18S rRNA fungal genes and galactomannan was performed on 1540 blood samples and correlated with clinical data. Amplification of the 5.8S rRNA fungal gene had significantly higher sensitivity than amplification of the 18S rRNA gene for samples from either source (for blood samples: 90% vs 50%, p=0.007; for serum samples: 64% vs 5%.. View More»
