PCR for the diagnosis of sepsis: hope or hype?
Genomic Research and Bacteriology Laboratories, Service of Infectious Diseases, Geneva University Hospitals, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 4, CH-1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland
Critical Care 2010, 15:111 doi:10.1186/cc9378
See related research by Lehmann et al., http://ccforum.com/content/14/5/R186
Published: 26 January 2011Abstract
Molecular biology has not yet fully reached its ambitious goals in clinical bacteriology. Notwithstanding the tremendous technical challenges, the detection of nucleic acids directly from the blood of septic patients has not been shown cost-effective or even clinically relevant. Yet the potential for rapid molecular detection of circulating DNA (DNAemia) coupled to an educated antimicrobial drug adaptation has been repetitively advocated as a predicted breakthrough. Why do we still remain in such uncertainty?
