Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40046191›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology2025

Plasma cell-free DNA Droplet Digital PCR provides rapid and efficient infectious microbiology diagnosis for febrile haematological patients.

Ying Li, Jun Xiao, Lihui Xia, Xueqin Sun, Jia Li, Huili Bai

Abstract readEvaluation Study
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

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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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

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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.

Ying LiThe Center for Clinical Molecular Medical Detection, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Jun XiaoThe Center for Clinical Molecular Medical Detection, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Lihui XiaThe Center for Clinical Molecular Medical Detection, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Xueqin SunThe Center for Clinical Molecular Medical Detection, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Jia LiThe Center for Clinical Molecular Medical Detection, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Huili BaiThe Center for Clinical Molecular Medical Detection, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Febrile haematological patients are at high risk for potential bloodstream infections, the rapid and accurate identification of pathogens is crucial for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) is a novel and ultra-sensitively molecular technique for the rapid detection of pathogens. We evaluated the ability of ddPCR to identify infectious etiologies to discuss the applicability of ddPCR in the diagnosis and treatment of infections for febrile haematological patients. Methods: This study enrolled and analyzed 89 ddPCR tests performed on 71 febrile haematological patients. We conducted a comparison between ddPCR results, blood culture (BC), and conventional microbiological testing (CMT). Additionally, we analyzed the correlation between ddPCR results and inflammatory factors, as well as their impact on antimicrobial therapy. Results: DdPCR detected 113 pathogens in 72 plasma samples, while CMT identified 39 pathogens in 32 plasma samples. The detection rate of bacteria and viruses using ddPCR was significantly higher than that of CMT (p <0.0001). The turnaround time (TAT) for pathogenic diagnosis was significantly shorter with ddPCR compared to CMT (p <0.0001). When we used the CMT as reference standard, the sensitivity and specificity of ddPCR were 93.8%, 26.3%, respectively. We observed a positive correlation between the ddPCR results and CRP, PCT and IL-6, and ddPCR (AUC=0.771) has better diagnostic performance. The anti-infective treatment strategies were adjusted for 30 patients based on the positive ddPCR results, with 86.7% (26/30) of these cases demonstrating effectiveness in the anti-infective treatment. Conclusion: DdPCR has the potential to enhance pathogen detection in febrile haematological patients by offering high sensitivity, rapid, precise results, it demonstrates better diagnostic performance compared to inflammatory factors and can contribute to the real-time clinical optimization of antimicrobial regimens, thereby enhancing the efficacy of anti-infective therapy.

Indexed as

Cell-Free Nucleic AcidsFeverHematologic DiseasesMolecular Diagnostic TechniquesPolymerase Chain ReactionAdultAgedAged, 80 and overBacteriaBlood CultureFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSensitivity and SpecificityVirusesCell-Free Nucleic Acidscell-free DNAdiagnostic performancedroplet digital PCRinfectionpathogen detection

Identifiers

PMID40046191
PMCPMC11880229

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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.