[Evaluation of a PCR-multiplex technique for the rapid diagnosis of bacteriemia].

OBJECTIVE:Rapid and safe diagnosis of bacteremia is a continuous challenge in clinical microbiology. In this work, we evaluated a multiple PCR system that identifies 23 common pathogens as well as the production of 3 resistance mechanisms potentially present in them. METHODS:During a period of 2 months the positive blood cultures were processed in the usual way for identification and determination of their antimicrobial sensitivity. At the same time were incorporated into FilmArray panels. RESULTS:The agreement between two methods for bacterial identification was 100%. The time of obtaining the results by the molecular technique did not exceed 1 hour 15 minutes and in 7 cases of the 21 studied (33%) a modification of the empirical therapy was carried out. CONCLUSIONS:The implementation of rapid techniques such as multiple PCR offers a fast, reliable and easy to perform diagnosis in the therapeutic management of sepsis.