Bench-to-bedside review: Rapid molecular diagnostics for bloodstream infection--a new frontier?
Among critically ill patients, the diagnosis of bloodstream infection poses a major challenge. Current standard bacterial identification based on blood culture platforms is intrinsically time-consuming and slow. The continuous evolvement of molecular techniques has the potential of providing a faster, more sensitive and direct identification of causative pathogens without prior need for cultivation. This may ultimately impact clinical decision-making and antimicrobial treatment. This review summarises the currently available technologies, their strengths and limitations and the obstacles that have to be overcome in order to develop a satisfactory bedside point-of-care diagnostic tool for detection of bloodstream infection.
Arash
A
Afshari
Jacques
J
Schrenzel
Margareta
M
Ieven
Stephan
S
Harbarth
D016470:Bacteremia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D006801:Humans; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems
D004269:DNA, Bacterial