ArticleTherapeutic advances in infectious disease
Clinical impact of microbial cell-free DNA next-generation sequencing for invasive mold infection-a single-center retrospective observational study.
Article in Therapeutic advances in infectious disease. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Diagnosing invasive mold infections (IMI) is challenging because they typically occur as opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients who often present with non-specific symptoms. Furthermore, no single test can definitively diagnose IMI, and a proven diagnosis often requires invasive sampling. This sampling can be unsafe and difficult to perform, especially in the immunocompromised population most at risk for these infections. Objectives: The objective of this study is to assess the clinical utility of plasma microbial cell-free DNA next-generation sequencing (mcfDNA-NGS) for diagnosing invasive mold infections in the context of conventional diagnostic methods. Design: Retrospective observational study at a quaternary care center (2017-2025). Methods: The charts of 30 patients with mold-positive mcfDNA-NGS (Karius™ Spectrum; Redwood City, CA, USA) were reviewed, with IMI adjudicated per 2020 EORTC/MSGERC criteria. Provider documentation, medication orders, and patient outcomes were used to assess clinician interpretation of mcfDNA-NGS result accuracy (true positive vs false positive) and its impact on diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making. Turnaround time (TAT) and molecules per microliter (MPM) were summarized. Results: IMI final classifications were proven (6), probable (8), possible (5), and unclassified (11). Overall, 23/30 (77%) results were true positives. Among these 23 patients with true positive results for mold, 5 (22%) received a new clinical adjudication of IMI that had been entirely missed by conventional diagnostic testing. Furthermore, mcfDNA NGS provided species-level pathogen identification in 9 of the 23 (39%) true positive cases where conventional testing detected fungal elements or elevated biomarkers but could not identify the specific organism. Median TAT was 102 h; median MPM 657. MPM did not differ between true and false positives ( Conclusion: mcfDNA-NGS provided noninvasive, actionable information, informing diagnosis and therapy. Future studies should define optimal stewardship and cost-effectiveness.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.