Correlation between clinical suspicion and polymerase chain reaction verification of infectious vitritis

To compare polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results to presumptive clinical diagnosis in patients with vitritis.

Retrospective review of PCR laboratory records from vitreous samples.

Fifty consecutive laboratory records of vitreous samples sent for PCR testing were reviewed. Three reviewers with uveitis training ranked the clinical suspicion of a specific diagnosis using a classification system (scale of 1 to 4) and were masked to the PCR results.

The degree of clinical suspicion of a particular diagnosis was significantly associated with a positive PCR result (P = .048). Higher clinical suspicion was significantly more associated with a positive PCR result compared with cases with lower clinical suspicion (P = .01).

If the clinical suspicion of a specific diagnosis is low, the PCR for any infectious etiology is unlikely to be positive.