Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22952268›Full record

SynthesisJournal of clinical microbiology2012

Diagnostic accuracy of PCR alone compared to galactomannan in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid for diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis: a systematic review.

Tomer Avni, Itzhak Levy, Hannah Sprecher, Dafna Yahav, Leonard Leibovici, Mical Paul

Open access · bronzeAbstract readComparative StudyMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of clinical microbiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
49citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.7field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

49 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 142 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
  2. Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Aspergillosis: 2016 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2016
    Guideline
  3. Aspergillus Polymerase Chain Reaction: Systematic Review of Evidence for Clinical Use in Comparison With Antigen Testing.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2015
    Pooled it
  4. Guideline
  5. Trial
  6. Article
  7. Research trends in COPD-associated invasive pulmonary aspergillosis over the past two decades: a bibliometric and topic modelling analysis.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2026
    Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. ISCCM Position Statement on the Management of Invasive Fungal Infections in the Intensive Care Unit.Indian journal of critical care medicine : peer-reviewed, official publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine · 2024
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Pulmonary aspergillosis: diagnosis and treatment.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Tomer AvniMedicine E, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petah-Tikva, Israel.
Itzhak Levy
Hannah Sprecher
Dafna Yahav
Leonard Leibovici
Mical Paul
Rabin Medical Center · ILSchneider Children's Medical Center · ILTechnion – Israel Institute of Technology · IL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

PCR in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid has not been accepted as a diagnostic criterion for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). We conducted a systematic review assessing the diagnostic accuracy of PCR in BAL fluid with a direct comparison versus galactomannan (GM) in BAL fluid. We included prospective and retrospective cohort and case-control studies. Studies were included if they used the EORTC/MSG consensus definition criteria of IPA and assessed ≥80% of patients at risk for IPA. Two reviewers abstracted data independently. Risk of bias was assessed using QUADAS-2. Summary sensitivity and specificity values were estimated using a bivariate model and reported with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Nineteen studies published between 1993 and 2012 were included. The summary sensitivity and specificity values (CIs) for diagnosis of proven or probable IPA were 90.2% (77.2 to 96.1%) and 96.4% (93.3 to 98.1%), respectively. In nine cohort studies strictly adherent to the 2002 or 2008 EORTC/MSG criteria for reference standard definitions, the summary sensitivity and specificity values (CIs) were 77.2% (62 to 87.6%) and 93.5% (90.6 to 95.6%), respectively. Antifungal treatment before bronchoscopy significantly reduced sensitivity. The diagnostic performance of PCR was similar to that of GM in BAL fluid using an optical density index cutoff of 0.5. If either PCR or GM in BAL fluid defined a positive result, the pooled sensitivity was higher than that of GM alone, with similar specificity. We conclude that the diagnostic performance of PCR in BAL fluid is good and comparable to that of GM in BAL fluid. Performing both tests results in optimal sensitivity with no loss of specificity. Results are dependent on the reference standard definitions.

Indexed as

Bronchoalveolar Lavage FluidCase-Control StudiesClinical Laboratory TechniquesGalactoseHumansImmunoassayInvasive Pulmonary AspergillosisMannansMycologyPolymerase Chain ReactionProspective StudiesRetrospective StudiesSensitivity and SpecificitygalactomannanGalactoseMannans

Identifiers

PMID22952268
PMCPMC3486225
OpenAlexW2152145634

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.