scholarly journals Multicentre post-implementation assessment of the positive-predictive value of SARS-CoV-2 antigen-based point-of-care tests used for asymptomatic screening of continuing care staff

Author(s):  
Jamil N Kanji ◽  
Dustin T Proctor ◽  
William Stokes ◽  
Byron M Berenger ◽  
James Silvius ◽  
...  

Frequent screening of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic populations using antigen-based point of care tests (APOCT) is occurring globally with limited clinical performance data. The positive predictive value (PPV) of two APOCT used in the asymptomatic screening of SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare workers (HCW) at continuing care (CC) sites across Alberta, Canada was evaluated. Between February 22 and May 2, 2021, CC sites implemented SARS-CoV-2 voluntary screening of their asymptomatic HCW. Onsite testing with Abbott Panbio or BD Veritor occurred on a weekly or twice weekly basis. Positive APOCT were confirmed with a real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) reference method. A total of 71,847 APOCT (17,689 Veritor and 54,158 Panbio) were performed among 369 CC sites. Eighty-seven (0.12%) APOCT were positive, of which 39 (0.05%) confirmed as true positives using rRT-PCR. Use of the Veritor and Panbio resulted in a 76.6% and 30.0% false positive detection, respectively (p<0.001). This corresponded to a 23.4% and 70.0% PPV for the Veritor and Panbio, respectively. Frequent screening of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic HCW in CC, using APOCT, resulted in a very low detection rate and a high detection of false positives. Careful assessment between the risks vs benefits of APOCT programs and prevalence of infection in this population needs to be thoroughly considered before implementation.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamil N Kanji ◽  
Dustin Proctor ◽  
William Stokes ◽  
Byron M Berenger ◽  
James Silvius ◽  
...  

Frequent screening of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic populations using antigen-based point of care tests (APOCT) is occurring globally with limited clinical performance data. The positive predictive value (PPV) of two APOCT used in the asymptomatic screening of SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare workers (HCW) at continuing care (CC) sites across Alberta, Canada was evaluated. Between February 22 and May 2, 2021, CC sites implemented SARS-CoV-2 voluntary screening of their asymptomatic HCW. Onsite testing with Abbott Panbio or BD Veritor occurred on a weekly or twice weekly basis. Positive APOCT were confirmed with a real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) reference method. A total of 71,847 APOCT (17,689 Veritor and 54,158 Panbio) were performed among 369 CC sites. Eighty-seven (0.12%) APOCT were positive, of which 39 (0.05%) confirmed as true positives using rRT-PCR. Use of the Veritor and Panbio resulted in a 76.6% and 30.0% false positive detection, respectively (p<0.001). This corresponded to a 23.4% and 70.0% PPV for the Veritor and Panbio, respectively. Frequent screening of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic HCW in CC, using APOCT, resulted in a very low detection rate and a high detection of false positives. Careful assessment between the risks vs benefits of APOCT programs in this population needs to be thoroughly considered before implementation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 1303-1309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sejal Morjaria ◽  
John Frame ◽  
Alexandra Franco-Garcia ◽  
Alexander Geyer ◽  
Mini Kamboj ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Serum (1,3)-beta-D glucan (BDG) is increasingly used to guide the management of suspected Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). BDG lacks specificity for PCP, and its clinical performance in high-risk cancer patients has not been fully assessed. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for PCP detection is highly sensitive, but cannot differentiate between colonization and infection. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of serum BDG in conjunction with PCP PCR on respiratory samples in patients with cancer and unexplained lung infiltrates. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of adult patients evaluated for PCP at our institution from 2012 to 2015, using serum BDG and PCP PCR. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of the serum BDG at different thresholds were evaluated using PCP PCR alone or in conjunction with clinical presentation in PCP PCR–positive patients. Results With PCP PCR alone as the reference method, BDG (≥80 pg/mL) had a sensitivity of 69.8%, specificity of 81.2%, PPV of 34.6%, and NPV of 95.2% for PCP. At ≥200 pg/mL in patients with a positive PCR and a compatible PCP clinical syndrome, BDG had a sensitivity of 70%, specificity of 100%, PPV of 100%, and NPV of 52.0% for PCP. Conclusions Patients negative by both BDG and PCR were unlikely to have PCP. In patients with a compatible clinical syndrome for PCP, higher BDG values (>200 pg/mL) were consistently associated with clinically-significant PCP infections among PCP PCR–positive oncology patients.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1109-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Roule ◽  
Pierre Ardouin ◽  
Yohan Repessé ◽  
Agnès Le Querrec ◽  
Katrien Blanchart ◽  
...  

Detection of high on-treatment platelet reactivity (HPR) by point-of-care tests has not been validated after successful fibrinolysis for ST-elevation myocardial infarction. We assessed the validity of the point-of-care VerifyNow P2Y12 (VN) and INNOVANCE PFA P2Y (PFA) tests on HPR compared to light transmittance aggregometry (LTA) in these patients. The HPR was identified in 10 (34.5%) patients, 15 (51.7%) patients, and 14 (50%) patients using LTA, VN, and PFA, respectively. Discrepancies were observed between the tests despite significant correlations between platelet reactivity measures by LTA and VN ( r = 0.74; P < .0001) and LTA and PFA ( r = .75; P < .0001). Compared to LTA, VN and PFA were associated with a 92% and 53% and 92% and 64% positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV), respectively, in detecting HPR. When combined, VN and PFA results yielded 90% and 100% PPV and NPV values if discrepancies between the 2 tests were considered as non-HPR. The VN or PFA identify patients without HPR correctly but overestimate the proportion of HPR patients. The association of the 2 tests, in case of HPR, improves the accuracy of the detection of HPR.


Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Michèle Bergmann ◽  
Mike Holzheu ◽  
Yury Zablotski ◽  
Stephanie Speck ◽  
Uwe Truyen ◽  
...  

Measuring antibodies to evaluate dogs´ immunity against canine parvovirus (CPV) is useful to avoid unnecessary re-vaccinations. The study aimed to evaluate the quality and practicability of four point-of-care (POC) tests for detection of anti-CPV antibodies. The sera of 198 client-owned and 43 specific pathogen-free (SPF) dogs were included; virus neutralization was the reference method. Specificity, sensitivity, positive and negative predictive value (PPV and NPV), and overall accuracy (OA) were calculated. Specificity was considered to be the most important indicator for POC test performance. Differences between specificity and sensitivity of POC tests in the sera of all dogs were determined by McNemar, agreement by Cohen´s kappa. Prevalence of anti-CPV antibodies in all dogs was 80% (192/241); in the subgroup of client-owned dogs, it was 97% (192/198); and in the subgroup of SPF dogs, it was 0% (0/43). FASTest® and CanTiCheck® were easiest to perform. Specificity was highest in the CanTiCheck® (overall dogs, 98%; client-owned dogs, 83%; SPF dogs, 100%) and the TiterCHEK® (overall dogs, 96%; client-owned dogs, 67%; SPF dogs, 100%); no significant differences in specificity were observed between the ImmunoComb®, the TiterCHEK®, and the CanTiCheck®. Sensitivity was highest in the FASTest® (overall dogs, 95%; client-owned dogs, 95%) and the CanTiCheck® (overall dogs, 80%; client-owned dogs, 80%); sensitivity of the FASTest® was significantly higher compared to the one of the other three tests (McNemars p-value in each comparison: <0.001). CanTiCheck® would be the POC test of choice when considering specificity and practicability. However, differences in the number of false positive results between CanTiCheck®, TiterCHEK®, and ImmunoComb® were minimal.


Author(s):  
Xavier Gabaldó-Barrios ◽  
Simona Iftimie ◽  
Anna Hernández-Aguilera ◽  
Isabel Pujol ◽  
Frederic Ballester ◽  
...  

Background: Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies have been used in the study of the immune response in infected patients. However, differences in sensitivity and specificity have been reported, depending on the method of analysis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of an algorithm in which a high-throughput automated assay for total antibodies was used for screening and two semi-automated IgG-specific methods were used to confirm the results, and also to correlate the analytical results with the clinical data and the time elapsed since infection. Methods: We studied 306 patients, some hospitalized and some outpatients, belonging to a population with a high prevalence of COVID-19. One-hundred and ten patients were classified as SARS-CoV-2 negative and 196 as positive by polymerase chain reaction. Results: The algorithm and automated assay alone had a specificity and a positive predictive value of 100%, although the sensitivity and negative predictive value of the algorithm was higher. Both methods showed a good sensitivity from day 11 of the onset of symptoms in asymptomatic and symptomatic patients. The absorbance of the total antibodies was significantly higher in severely symptomatic than in asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients, which suggests the antibody level was higher. We found 15 patients that did not present seroconversion at 12 days from the onset of symptoms or the first polymerase chain reaction test. Conclusion: This study highlights the proper functioning of algorithms in the diagnosis of the immune response to COVID-19, which can help to define testing strategies against this disease.


2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. e69-e74 ◽  
Author(s):  
PD Andrade ◽  
MT Fioravanti ◽  
EBV Anjos ◽  
C De Oliveira ◽  
DM Albuquerque ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Human cytomegalovirus is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. Qualitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has proven to be a sensitive and effective technique in defining active cytomegalovirus infection, in addition to having low cost and being a useful test for situations in which there is no need for quantification. Real-time PCR has the advantage of quantification; however, the high cost of this methodology makes it impractical for routine use.OBJECTIVE: To apply a nested PCR assay to serum (sPCR) and to evaluate its efficiency to diagnose active cytomegalovirus infection compared with PCR of peripheral blood leukocytes (L-PCR).METHODS: Samples of 37 patients were prospectively evaluated. An internal control was created and applied to sPCR to exclude false-negative results.RESULTS: In total, 21 patients (57%) developed active cytomegalovirus infection. After analyzing the two methods for the diagnosis of active infection, higher sensitivity and negative predictive value of the L-PCR versus sPCR (100% versus 62%), and higher specificity and positive predictive value of sPCR versus L-PCR (81% versus 50% and 72%, respectively) were observed. Discordant results were observed in 11 patients who were L-PCR-positive but sPCR-negative for active cytomegalovirus infection, five of whom developed clinical symptoms of cytomegalovirus. Clinical symptoms were observed in 14 patients, 12 of whom were diagnosed with active infection by nested L-PCR (P=0.007) and seven by nested sPCR (P=0.02). Higher specificity and a positive predictive value for sPCR were observed.CONCLUSION: Nested L-PCR and sPCR were considered to be complementary methods for the diagnosis and management of symptomatic cytomegalovirus infection.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebeca Santano ◽  
Diana Barrios ◽  
Fàtima Crispi ◽  
Francesca Crovetto ◽  
Marta Vidal ◽  
...  

AbstractSerological diagnostic of the severe respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a valuable tool for the determination of immunity and surveillance of exposure to the virus. In the context of an ongoing pandemic, it is essential to externally validate widely used tests to assure correct diagnostics and epidemiological estimations. We evaluated the performance of the COVID-19 ELISA IgG and the COVID-19 ELISA IgM/A (Vircell, S.L.) against a highly specific and sensitive in-house Luminex immunoassay in a set of samples from pregnant women and cord blood. The agreement between both assays was moderate to high for IgG but low for IgM/A. Considering seropositivity by either IgG and/or IgM/A, the technical performance of the ELISA was highly imbalanced, with 96% sensitivity at the expense of 22% specificity. As for the clinical performance, the negative predictive value reached 87% while the positive predictive value was 51%. Our results stress the need for highly specific and sensitive assays and external validation of diagnostic tests with different sets of samples to avoid the clinical, epidemiological and personal disturbances derived from serological misdiagnosis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konuralp Yakar

Aim. To compare the clinical performance of the Spot Vision Screener used to detect amblyopia risk factors (ARFs) in children before and after induction of cycloplegia; the children were referred because they met the screening criteria of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS). Methods. The Spot Vision Screener and a standard autorefractometer were used to examine 200 eyes of 100 children aged 3–10 years, before and after cycloplegia induction, in terms of ARFs. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for the detection of significant refractive errors were measured using the AAPOS referral criteria. It was explored that Spot Screener data were affected by cycloplegia. The extent of agreement between cycloplegic/noncycloplegic photoscreening data and cycloplegic autorefraction measurements was assessed using Wilcoxon and Spearman correlation analyses. Results. The Spot’s sensitivity was improved from 60.9% to 85.3% and specificity from 94.9% to 87.4% with cycloplegia compared to cycloplegic standard autorefractometer results. The positive predictive value of Spot was 75.7%, and the negative predictive value was 90.4% without cycloplegia. With cycloplegia, the positive predictive value of Spot was 63.6% and the negative predictive value was 95.8%. Conclusions. The Spot Screener afforded moderate sensitivity and high specificity prior to cycloplegia. The sensitivity and negative predictive value improved after induction of cycloplegia. Examiners should be aware of the effects of cycloplegia on their findings.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (9) ◽  
pp. 991-996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Motz ◽  
Amelie Von Saint Andre Von Arnim ◽  
Ramesh S. Iyer ◽  
Shilpi Chabra ◽  
Maggie Likes ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective To assess the feasibility and accuracy of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in monitoring peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) location in neonates by non-radiologist physicians. Methods A prospective cohort study compared PICC localization by ultrasound in neonates with a recent radiograph. The ultrasound exam was performed using a standardized protocol with 13–6 MHz linear and 8–4 MHz phased array transducers by a neonatal-perinatal fellow who was blinded to PICC location on the radiograph. Results Of the 30 neonates included, 96.6% (n = 29) were preterm, with 63.3% (n = 19) weighing <1500 g. Nighty-four percent (n = 94) of ultrasound scans matched the radiograph report. The protocol had a sensitivity of 0.97, specificity of 0.66 and positive predictive value of 0.98. Conclusion Limited ultrasound exams to monitor PICC position in neonates using a standardized protocol by non-radiologist physicians are feasible and accurate in a single ultrasound user. Further study in multiple providers is needed before widespread use.


2020 ◽  
pp. emermed-2020-210125
Author(s):  
Svenja L Haak ◽  
Iris JE Renken ◽  
L Cara Jager ◽  
Heleen Lameijer ◽  
Brigitta (Britt) YM van der Kolk

BackgroundA promising modality for diagnosing pulmonary manifestations of COVID-19 in the emergency department (ED) is point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the lungs. The currently used PCR as well as chest X-ray and CT scanning have important disadvantages. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of POCUS in patients with suspected pulmonary manifestations of COVID-19 in the ED.MethodsThis prospective diagnostic accuracy study was conducted at the ED of our non-academic level 1 trauma centre (Isala, Zwolle, the Netherlands). Patients were enrolled between 14 April and 22 April 2020. Patients (aged ≥16 years) with suspected COVID-19 presenting to the ED underwent POCUS. All patients received current standard of care, including PCR (naso-oropharyngeal swab). Outcome of POCUS was compared with PCR or CT scan outcome to determine diagnostic accuracy. Diagnostic accuracy measures were calculated using 2×2 contingency tables.Results100 patients were eligible to participate in this study, data of 93 patients were analysed. 27 (29%) patients were found positive for COVID-19 by PCR or CT. POCUS had a sensitivity of 89% (95% CI 70% to 97%), specificity of 59% (95% CI 46% to 71%), negative predictive value of 93% (95% CI 79% to 98%) and positive predictive value of 47% (95% CI 33% to 61%). In a subgroup of patients without previous cardiopulmonary disease (n=37), POCUS had a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI 70% to 100%), specificity of 76% (95% CI 54% to 90%), negative predictive value of 100% (95% CI 79% to 100%) and positive predictive value of 67% (95% CI 41% to 86%).ConclusionPOCUS of the lungs could serve as a valuable, radiation-free tool for excluding pulmonary manifestations of COVID-19 in patients in the ED at the point of assessment, especially in patients without previous cardiopulmonary disease.Trial registrationDutch Trial Register, No: NTR8544.


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