Use of real time multiplex PCR for the diagnosis of dermatophytes onychomycosis in patients with empirical antifungal treatments

Onychomycosis is a nail fungal infection mainly caused by dermatophytes. Diagnostic confirmation is conventionally made by direct microscopy and culture, which suffer from low or moderate sensitivity. Several molecular methods have been used for dermatophytes detection and identification directly fr...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of infection and public health 2022-05, Vol.15 (5), p.539-544
Main Authors:	Trovato, Laura, Domina, Maria, Calvo, Maddalena, De Pasquale, Rocco, Scalia, Guido, Oliveri, Salvatore
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Antifungal Agents - therapeutic use Arthrodermataceae - genetics Dermatophytes Diagnosis Humans Multiplex PCR Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction Onychomycosis Onychomycosis - diagnosis Onychomycosis - drug therapy Onychomycosis - microbiology Retrospective Studies
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Onychomycosis is a nail fungal infection mainly caused by dermatophytes. Diagnostic confirmation is conventionally made by direct microscopy and culture, which suffer from low or moderate sensitivity. Several molecular methods have been used for dermatophytes detection and identification directly from nail samples. The aim of this study was the evaluation of the DermaGenius®(DG) multiplex kit in detecting and identifying dermatophytes from nail samples of untreated and treated patients with a clinical suspicion of onychomycosis. All the patients underwent a nail scarification, performed with a sterile scalpel to collect small nail fragments from the suspected site of infection. All nail clippings were first analysed by microscopic and culture methods to define a diagnostic confirmation. DG PCR assays were retrospectively applied to the same samples. A total of 109 toenails were collected for the microscopic, culture and DG PCR assays. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of DG in the onychomycosis diagnosis in all 109 patients were respectively 78.5%, 100%, 100%, and 75.9%. Only for cultural exams the rate of positive results was significantly different in the two groups of patients with a percentage of 73.7% in untreated patients versus a 40.7% value in treated patients (P
ISSN:	1876-0341 1876-035X