Fortún, JBuitrago, Maria JoseGioia, FGómez-Gª de la Pedrosa, EAlvarez, M EMartín-Dávila, PilarPintado, VCobeta, PMartinez-Castro, NSoriano, CMoreno, ICorral, SMuñoz, PMoreno-Jimenez, GCuenca-Estrella, ManuelMoreno-Guillen, S2024-02-052024-02-052020-08-01Med Mycol. 2020 Aug 1;58(6):789-796.http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/17476Multiplex quantitative real-time PCR (MRT-PCR) using blood can improve the diagnosis of intra-abdominal candidiasis (IAC). We prospectively studied 39 patients with suspected IAC in the absence of previous antifungal therapy. Blood cultures, MRT-PCR, and β-D-glucan (BDG) in serum were performed in all patients. IAC was defined according to the 2013 European Consensus criteria. For MRT-PCR, the probes targeted the ITS1 or ITS2 regions of ribosomal DNA. Candidaemia was confirmed only in four patients (10%), and IAC criteria were present in 17 patients (43.6%). The sensitivity of MRT-PCR was 25% but increased to 63.6% (P = .06) in plasma obtained prior to volume overload and transfusion; specificity was above 85% in all cases. BDG performance was improved using a cutoff > 260 pg/ml, and improvement was not observed in samples obtained before transfusion. In this cohort of high risk of IAC and low rate of bloodstream infection, the performance of non-culture-based methods (MRT-PCR or BDG) was moderate but may be a complementary tool given the limitations of diagnostic methods available in clinical practice. Volume overload requirements, in combination with other factors, decrease the accuracy of MRT-PCR in patients with IAC.engVoRhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Candida sppMultiplex PCRPeritonitisMultiplex Polymerase Chain ReactionAntifungal AgentsCandidiasis, InvasiveDNA ProbesFemaleHumansIntraabdominal InfectionsMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesReproducibility of ResultsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional31811285586789-79610.1093/mmy/myz1231460-2709Medical mycologyopen access