Influence of Multiplex PCR in the Management of Antibiotic Treatment in Patients with Bacteremia

The multiplex PCR assay can be a helpful diagnostic tool for patients with bacteremia. Herein, we assessed the impact of a Blood Culture Identification Panel (BCID) on both the diagnosis and treatment of patients with bacteremia. We performed a retrospective study using laboratory and clinical data to evaluate the impact of syndromic testing using a multiplex PCR testing system (BioFire(®) FilmArray) for the management of patients with bloodstream infections. BCID detected the pathogen in 102 (87.9%) samples out of the 116 positive blood cultures tested. The average time from the blood culture collection to the communication of the molecular test result was 23.93 h (range: 10.67–69.27 h). The main pathogen detected was Klebsiella pneumoniae (17.6%). The antimicrobial therapy was changed in accordance with the BCID results in 28 (40.6%) out of the 69 cases, wherein the treatment could have been theoretically adjusted. This allowed the adjustment of the therapy to be performed 1305.1 h faster than it would have been possible if conventional diagnostic methods had been used; this was the case for only 35.1% of the time gained if treatment was adjusted for all patients with positive BCID. Thus, although molecular tests can make a difference in the management of bloodstream infections, there is room for improvement in the clinical application of BCID results.