Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41481221›Full record

ArticleAnnals of medicine2026

Diagnostic value of plasma cell-free DNA metagenomic next-generation sequencing in patients with suspected infections and exploration of clinical scenarios-a retrospective study from a single center.

Shuhong Sun, Zhen Ning, Hongyan Xu, Shanxin Peng, Chunhai Gao, Xiaofeng Hu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing 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

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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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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.

Shuhong SunDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Shandong Provincial Linyi Peoples' Hospital, Shandong Provincial Key Medical and Health Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Linyi Municipal Key Laboratory for Laboratory Medicine, Linyi, Shandong, China.
Zhen NingDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Shandong Provincial Linyi Peoples' Hospital, Shandong Provincial Key Medical and Health Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Linyi Municipal Key Laboratory for Laboratory Medicine, Linyi, Shandong, China.
Hongyan XuDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Shandong Provincial Linyi Peoples' Hospital, Shandong Provincial Key Medical and Health Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Linyi Municipal Key Laboratory for Laboratory Medicine, Linyi, Shandong, China.
Shanxin PengDepartment of Hospital Infection Management, Shandong Provincial Linyi Peoples' Hospital, Shandong Provincial Key Medical and Health Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Linyi Municipal Key Laboratory for Laboratory Medicine, Linyi, Shandong, China.
Chunhai GaoDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Shandong Provincial Linyi Peoples' Hospital, Shandong Provincial Key Medical and Health Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Linyi Municipal Key Laboratory for Laboratory Medicine, Linyi, Shandong, China.
Xiaofeng HuDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Shandong Provincial Linyi Peoples' Hospital, Shandong Provincial Key Medical and Health Laboratory, Shandong Provincial Linyi Municipal Key Laboratory for Laboratory Medicine, Linyi, Shandong, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPlasma cell-free DNA metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is a non-invasive comprehensive method for the etiological diagnosis of various infectious diseases. However, research on the early diagnosis and real-world clinical impact of plasma mNGS in patients with suspected infection are still limited. MATERIALS AND

methodsThis study retrospectively included 140 patients with suspected infections who underwent early plasma mNGS and conventional culture testing. Referring to the clinical diagnosis of infectious diseases, the diagnostic performance of plasma mNGS and culture tests was compared, and the application scenarios and clinical effects of plasma mNGS were evaluated.

resultsThe positive rate of plasma mNGS was significantly higher than that of culture methods (55.71% vs 25.10%,

conclusionThis study highlights the significant improvement in pathogen detection performance by combining conventional culture with plasma mNGS detection, especially in patients with multi-site co-infections and blood infections. Early use of plasma mNGS as an adjunct to culture can better guide clinicians to initiate appropriate anti-infective therapy.

Indexed as

Cell-Free Nucleic AcidsCommunicable DiseasesHigh-Throughput Nucleotide SequencingMetagenomicsAdultAgedBlood CultureCoinfectionFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesSensitivity and SpecificityCell-Free Nucleic Acidsclinical impactinfectious diseasesmetagenomic next-generation sequencingPlasma cell-free DNA

Identifiers

PMID41481221
PMCPMC12777835

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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.