Impact upon clinical outcomes of translation of PNA FISH-generated laboratory data from the clinical microbiology bench to bedside in real time

Abstract

Tam Ly, Jyoti Gulia, Vasilios Pyrgos, Masashi Waga, Shmuel ShohamSection of Infectious Diseases, Washington Hospital Center, Washington DC, USAAbstract: Fluorescence in situ hybridization using peptide nucleic acid probes (PNA-FISH) differentiates Staphylococcus aureus from other Gram-positive-cocci in clusters (GPCC). 101/202 patients with GPCC+ blood cultures were randomly assigned to clinician-notification of PNA FISH results. Notifi cation was associated with reduced mortality (8% vs.17%, p = 0.05), further antibiotic use (median −2.5 days, p = 0.01), and trended toward reduced hospital stay and charges.