ArticlePloS one2019
Nocardia polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay performed on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid after lung transplantation: A prospective pilot study.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Pulmonary Nocardiosis Diagnosed by Plasma Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing in a Patient With Recurrent Febrile Neutropenia.Case reports in infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Evaluation of the Diagnostic Accuracy and Clinical Utility of Fungal Profile Plus Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay in Pulmonary Infections.Open forum infectious diseases · 2022Article
- A rare case of pulmonary nocardiosis comorbid with Sjogren's syndrome.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2021Article
- Nocardia colonization in contrast to nocardiosis: a comparison of patients' clinical characteristics.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2020Article
- Invasive Nocardiosis: Disease Presentation, Diagnosis and Treatment - Old Questions, New Answers?Infection and drug resistance · 2020Review
- Detection ofEthiopian journal of health sciences · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTransplant recipients are at risk of pulmonary nocardiosis, a life-threatening opportunistic infection caused by Nocardia species. Given the limitations of conventional diagnostic techniques (i.e., microscopy and culture), a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay was developed to detect Nocardia spp. on clinical samples. While this test is increasingly being used by transplant physicians, its performance characteristics are not well documented. We evaluated the performance characteristics of this test on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid samples from lung transplant recipients (LTRs).
methodsWe prospectively included all BAL samples from LTRs undergoing bronchoscopy at our institution between December 2016 and June 2017 (either surveillance or clinically-indicated bronchoscopies). Presence of microbial pathogens was assessed using techniques available locally (including microscopy and 10-day culture for Nocardia). BAL samples were also sent to the French Nocardiosis Observatory (Lyon, France) for the Nocardia PCR-based assay. Transplant physicians and patients were blinded to the Nocardia PCR results.
resultsWe included 29 BAL samples from 21 patients (18 surveillance and 11 clinically-indicated bronchoscopies). Nocardiosis was not diagnosed in any of these patients by conventional techniques. However, Nocardia PCR was positive in five BAL samples from five of the patients (24%, 95% confidence interval: 11-45%); four were asymptomatic and undergoing surveillance bronchoscopy, and one was symptomatic and was later diagnosed with influenza virus infection. None of the five PCR-positive patients died or were diagnosed with nocardiosis during the median follow-up of 21 months after the index bronchoscopy (range: 20-23 months).
conclusionsIn this prospective study, Nocardia PCR was positive on BAL fluid from one fourth of the LTRs. Nocardia PCR-based assays should be used with caution on respiratory samples from LTRs because of the possible detection of airway colonization using this technique. Larger studies are required to determine the usefulness of the Nocardia PCR-based assay in transplant recipients.
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