Diagnostic BioFire® FilmArray® Pneumonia Panel Plus versus standard microbial culture in bronchiectasis exacerbations

Area of Science:

• * Pulmonary Medicine
• * Clinical Microbiology
• * Infectious Diseases

Background:

• * Bronchiectasis (BE) exacerbations require accurate microbiological diagnosis for effective treatment.
• * The diagnostic utility of the BioFire® FilmArray® Pneumonia Panel Plus (FAPP) in BE exacerbations is not well-established.
• * Comparison with standard microbial culture (SMC) is needed to evaluate FAPP's performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To compare the microbiological diagnostic performance of FAPP versus SMC in patients experiencing BE exacerbations.
• * To assess the impact of FAPP on antimicrobial treatment decisions and outcomes.

Main Methods:

• * Prospective observational study involving adult BE exacerbation patients.
• * Sputum samples (n=73) analyzed using both FAPP and SMC.
• * Evaluation of diagnostic yield and influence on clinical management.

Main Results:

• * FAPP detected pathogens in 88% of samples, significantly higher than SMC (56%).
• * FAPP identified multiple microorganisms in 40% of samples, unlike SMC which yielded monomicrobial results.
• * FAPP results guided treatment decisions in 85% of cases, leading to appropriate antimicrobial therapy and low treatment failure rates (2%).

Conclusions:

• * FAPP offers superior microbiological diagnostic performance for BE exacerbations compared to SMC.
• * Enhanced pathogen detection by FAPP facilitates more precise initial antimicrobial therapy.
• * Accurate FAPP-guided treatment is associated with reduced treatment failure in BE exacerbations.