Trial reportMedical microbiology and immunology2015
Impact of multiplex PCR on antimicrobial treatment in febrile neutropenia: a randomized controlled study.
Trial report in Medical microbiology and immunology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- The American Society for Microbiology's evidence-based laboratory medicine practice guidelines for the diagnosis of bloodstream infections using rapid tests: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2025Guideline
- Rapid versus standard antimicrobial susceptibility testing to guide treatment of bloodstream infection.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Polymerase chain reaction blood tests for the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised people.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Early discontinuation of antibiotics for febrile neutropenia versus continuation until neutropenia resolution in people with cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Article
- Rapid molecular assays versus blood culture for bloodstream infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Cost-Effectiveness of Plasma Microbial Cell-Free DNA Sequencing When Added to Usual Care Diagnostic Testing for Immunocompromised Host Pneumonia.PharmacoEconomics · 2024Article
- A Systematic Literature Review to Identify Diagnostic Gaps in Managing Immunocompromised Patients With Cancer and Suspected Infection.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Review
- Effect of Prior Antibiotic Treatment on Blood Culture in an Outpatient Department of General Internal Medicine: A Retrospective Case-Control Analysis.International journal of general medicine · 2023Article
- Whole Slide Imaging for High-Throughput Sensing Antibiotic Resistance at Single-Bacterium Level and Its Application to Rapid Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- New Microbiological Techniques in the Diagnosis of Bloodstream Infections.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2018Review
- Article
- Mortality, intensive care treatment, and cost evaluation: Role of a polymerase chain reaction assay in patients with sepsis.The Journal of international medical research · 2018Article
- Bacterial bloodstream infections in the allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant patient: new considerations for a persistent nemesis.Bone marrow transplantation · 2017Review
- Article
- Implementation of short incubation MALDI-TOF MS identification from positive blood cultures in routine diagnostics and effects on empiric antimicrobial therapy.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2017Article
- Rapid Phenotypic Detection of Microbial Resistance in Gram-Positive Bacteria by a Real-Time Laser Scattering Method.Frontiers in microbiology · 2017Article
- Broad-Range PCR Coupled with Electrospray Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry for Detection of Bacteremia and Fungemia in Patients with Neutropenic Fever.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2016Article
- Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Multiplex PCR (mPCR) directly from blood has been suggested as a promising method for rapid identification of pathogens causing sepsis. This study aimed to investigate whether mPCR has any impact on antimicrobial treatment. Hematological patients with febrile neutropenia were randomized into two groups. In the study group, mPCR was performed as an addition to standard diagnostics, and PCR finding was immediately communicated to the clinicians, thus being available for decision making. In the control group, clinicians were not aware of PCR result. PCR samples were collected simultaneously with clinically indicated blood culture specimens from peripheral vein and/or central venous catheter at fever onset and once again if fever persisted up to 72 h. Overall, 74 patients of the study group and 76 patients of the control group were enrolled and 253 samples collected. Therapy was changed to targeted antimicrobial therapy (AMT) in 12 patients (16.2%) in the study group and in 12 patients (15.8%) in the control group. For patients with changes, the median time to change to the targeted AMT was 21.4 h in the study group and 47.5 h in the control group (p = 0.018). In the study group, 57.1% (8/14) of changes to targeted AMT was due to PCR finding. PCR led to AMT change in 9.5% (7/74) of study group patients, i.e., in 33.3% (7/21) of patients who had positive PCR finding. There were no significant differences in patient outcomes (secondary endpoints). In conclusion, PCR method accelerates change to the targeted AMT in febrile neutropenic patients.
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