Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 1999, p. 2587-2591, Vol. 37, No. 8
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
The Jane and Dayton Brown and Dayton T. Brown,
Received 24 February 1999/Returned for modification 22 April
1999/Accepted 6 May 1999
With the availability of anticytomegalovirus (CMV) therapeutic
agents, rapid detection of CMV is important in the care and management
of the immunosuppressed patient. The PrimeCapture CMV DNA Detection
Plate System (PC-PCR) was evaluated for the detection of CMV in blood
and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The resolution of discordant results was
performed by consensus testing utilizing a combination of conventional
cell culture (TC-CPE), the CMV-antigenemia (CMV-Ag) assay, one or more
in-house CMV nested PCR assays, and/or patient evaluation and
follow-up. Of 51 blood specimens from 34 patients, 23 (45%) were
identified as true positives. PC-PCR was significantly more sensitive
than the CMV-Ag assay, TC-CPE, or a combination of both tests. The
sensitivities, specificities, positive predictive values (PPV), and
negative predictive values (NPV) for PC-PCR, the CMV-Ag assay, TC-CPE,
and a combination of CMV-Ag and TC-CPE were 78, 75, 72, 81%; 46, 100, 100, 70%; 39, 100, 100, 67%; and 58, 100, 100, 73%, respectively.
CMV was not detected or isolated in CSF, resulting in a combined PC-PCR sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 77, 90, 68, and 93%, respectively. Among those laboratorians considering the incorporation of molecular CMV diagnostics into their clinical microbiology or
virology laboratories, the CMV PC-PCR offers a relatively
simple-to-perform and sensitive assay system.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of
Infectious Diseases, North Shore University Hospital-NYU School of
Medicine, 300 Community Dr., Manhasset, NY 11030. Phone: (516)
562-4464. Fax: (516) 562-2626. E-mail: montmor{at}aol.com.
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