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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 1998, p. 2652-2657, Vol. 36, No. 9
University Hospital
Utrecht1 and
Diakonessenhuis
Hospital,
Received 14 November 1997/Returned for modification 15 January
1998/Accepted 11 June 1998
The Amplicor Enterovirus PCR test was compared with viral culture
for the detection of enteroviruses in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
specimens. In a multicenter study in which nine laboratories participated, a total of 476 CSF specimens were collected from patients
with suspected aseptic meningitis. Sixty-eight samples were positive by
PCR (14.4%), whereas 49 samples were positive by culture (10.4%),
demonstrating that the Amplicor Enterovirus PCR test was significantly
more sensitive than culture (P < 0.001). After
discrepancy analysis the sensitivity and specificity of the Amplicor
Enterovirus PCR test obtained by using viral culture as the "gold
standard" were 85.7 and 93.9%, respectively. Our results with the
CSF specimens collected in different countries demonstrate that the
Amplicor test is capable of detecting a large variety of enterovirus
serotypes and epidemiologically unrelated isolates in CSF specimens
from patients with aseptic meningitis. The Amplicor Enterovirus PCR
test is a rapid assay which can be routinely performed with CSF samples
and is an important improvement for the rapid diagnosis of enteroviral
meningitis.
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Multicenter Evaluation of the Amplicor Enterovirus PCR Test with
Cerebrospinal Fluid from Patients with Aseptic Meningitis
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: University
Hospital Utrecht, Department of Virology, G04.428, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-30-2507629. Fax:
31-30-2505426. E-mail: a.m.vanloon{at}lab.azu.nl.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 1998, p. 2652-2657, Vol. 36, No. 9
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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