28 March 2019
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The number of patients with severe intestinal failure (IF) has exponentially increased over the last decade.
If patients depend on life-long home parenteral nutrition and are exposed on a lifelong basis to potentially life-threatening catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBIs). Molecular techniques hold promise to improve and speed up bloodstream infection diagnostics. The golden standard, blood culturing, may take up to 5 days before a correct diagnosis is made. The new molecular techniques accelerates this to 4-6 hours. However, most molecular techniques have a moderate sensitivity. A moderate sensitivity limits the use in clinical setting because of the relative high number of false negative results. Digital droplet PCR(ddPCR) is a novel culture-independent technique and hold promise to improve sensitivity of pathogen detection in whole-blood.The aim of this study is to compare the ddPCR with the most investigated molecular test (SeptiFast) and the golden standard. Our goal is to have an accurate and rapid diagnostic test for bloodstream infection detection and thereby reduce the infection-associated morbidity- and mortality, preserve venous access and improve quality of life.
Geert Wanten (gastroenterologist) and
Yannick Wouters (PhD candidate) received a grand from the MLDS to realize this research and
Veerle Gillis (PhD candidate) will perform this study.
NL
DE
The number of patients with severe intestinal failure (IF) has exponentially increased over the last decade. 
