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ELISA versus PCR for diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease: systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Most current guidelines recommend two serological tests to diagnose chronic Chagas disease. When serological tests are persistently inconclusive, some guidelines recommend molecular tests. The aim of this investigation was to review chronic Chagas disease diagnosis literature and to summarize results of ELISA and PCR performance. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted searching remote databases (MEDLINE, LILACS, EMBASE, SCOPUS and ISIWeb) and full texts bibliography for relevant abstracts. In addition, manufacturers of commercial tests were contacted. Original investigations were eligible if they estimated sensitivity and specificity, or reliability -or if their calculation was possible - of ELISA or PCR tests, for chronic Chagas disease. RESULTS: Heterogeneity was high within each test (ELISA and PCR) and threshold effect was detected only in a particular subgroup. Reference standard blinding partially explained heterogeneity in ELISA studies, and pooled sensitivity and specificity were 97.7% [96.7%-98.5%] and 96.3% [94.6%-97.6%] respectively. Commercial ELISA with recombinant antigens studied in phase three investigations partially explained heterogeneity, and pooled sensitivity and specificity were 99.3% [97.9%-99.9%] and 97.5% [88.5%-99.5%] respectively. ELISA's reliability was seldom studied but was considered acceptable. PCR heterogeneity was not explained, but a threshold effect was detected in three groups created by using guanidine and boiling the sample before DNA extraction. PCR sensitivity is likely to be between 50% and 90%, while its specificity is close to 100%. PCR reliability was never studied. CONCLUSIONS: Both conventional and recombinant based ELISA give useful information, however there are commercial tests without technical reports and therefore were not included in this review. Physicians need to have access to technical reports to understand if these serological tests are similar to those included in this review and therefore correctly order and interpret test results. Currently, PCR should not be used in clinical practice for chronic Chagas disease diagnosis and there is no PCR test commercially available for this purpose. Tests limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

SUBMITTER: Brasil PE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3004908 | biostudies-literature | 2010

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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ELISA versus PCR for diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Brasil Pedro E A A PE De Castro Liane L Hasslocher-Moreno Alejandro M AM Sangenis Luiz H C LH Braga José U JU

BMC infectious diseases 20101125

<h4>Background</h4>Most current guidelines recommend two serological tests to diagnose chronic Chagas disease. When serological tests are persistently inconclusive, some guidelines recommend molecular tests. The aim of this investigation was to review chronic Chagas disease diagnosis literature and to summarize results of ELISA and PCR performance.<h4>Methods</h4>A systematic review was conducted searching remote databases (MEDLINE, LILACS, EMBASE, SCOPUS and ISIWeb) and full texts bibliography ...[more]

PMID: 21108793

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Project description:BackgroundDespite of a high disease burden, mainly in Latin America, Chagas disease (CD) is underdiagnosed and undertreated. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) might improve the access to diagnosis. The aim of this study is to review the accuracy of commercially available RDTs used in field conditions for the diagnosis of chronic CD in populations at risk, in endemic and non-endemic countries.Methods/principal findingsWe undertook a comprehensive search of the following databases: PubMed, SCOPUS, LILACS (last up-date on the 01st July, 2017), without language or date limits. Non-electronic sources have been also searched. This review included clinical studies with cohort recruitment of individuals at risk of T. cruzi exposure, without age limits; adequate reference standards for the diagnosis of CD. We excluded case-control studies and those testing RDTs during acute CD. Data on test accuracies were pooled through a bivariate random-effects model. Only one index test was evaluated separately. Geographical area, commercial brand, disease prevalence, study size, and risk of bias were explored as possible source of heterogeneity. Values of sensitivity and specificity were computed to obtain summary positive/negative likelihood ratios, and summary diagnostic odds ratio. Ten studies were included on six different immunochromatographic RDTs. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of the RDTs resulted 96.6% (95% CI 91.3-98.7%) and 99.3% (95% CI 98.4-99.7%), respectively. Test accuracy was particularly good in endemic areas (98.07%/99.03% of sensitivity/specificity, respectively). One test (Stat-Pak) showed an overall sensitivity of 97% (95% CI 87.6-99.3) and specificity of 99.4% (95% CI 98.6-99.8).Conclusions/significanceRDTs demonstrated to be sufficiently accurate to recommend their use for screening in endemic areas, even as stand-alone tests. This approach might increase the accessibility to the diagnosis. However, an additional confirmatory test in case of positive result remains a prudent approach.

Project description:The use of molecular-based methods for the diagnosis of bacterial infections in blood is appealing, but they have not yet passed the threshold for clinical practice. A systematic review of prospective and case-control studies assessing the diagnostic utility of PCR directly with blood samples for the diagnosis of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) was performed. A broad search was conducted to identify published and unpublished studies. Two reviewers independently extracted the data. Summary estimates for sensitivity and specificity with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by using the hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic method. The effects of sample processing, PCR type, the gene-specific primer, study design, the participants' age, and the source of infection on the diagnostic odds ratios were assessed through meta-regression. Twenty-nine studies published between 1993 and 2009 were included. By using pneumococcal bacteremia for case definition and healthy people or patients with bacteremia caused by other bacteria as controls (22 studies), the summary estimates for sensitivity and specificity were 57.1% (95% CI, 45.7 to 67.8%) and 98.6% (95% CI, 96.4 to 99.5%), respectively. When the controls were patients suspected of having IPD without pneumococcal bacteremia (26 studies), the respective values were 66.4% (95% CI, 55.9 to 75.6%) and 87.8% (95% CI, 79.5 to 93.1%). With lower degrees of proof for IPD (any culture or serology result and the clinical impression), the sensitivity of PCR decreased and the specificity increased. All analyses were highly heterogeneous. The use of nested PCR and being a child were associated with low specificity, while the use of a cohort study design was associated with a low sensitivity. The lack of an appropriate reference standard might have caused underestimation of the performance of the PCR. Currently available methods for PCR with blood samples for the diagnosis of IPD lack the sensitivity and specificity necessary for clinical practice.

Project description:Chagas disease is a neglected disease that remains a public health threat, particularly in Latin America. The most important treatment options are nitroimidazole derivatives, such as nifurtimox and benznidazole (BZN). Some studies suggest that for adults seropositive to T. cruzi but without clinically evident chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC), a simple fixed-dose scheme of BZN could be equivalent to a weight-adjusted dose. We compared the efficacy and safety of a fixed dose of BZN with an adjusted dose for T. cruzi seropositive adults without CCC. We used the Cochrane methods, and reported according to the PRISMA statement. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) allocating participants to fixed and/or adjusted doses of BZN for T. cruzi seropositive adults without CCC. We searched (December 2019) Cochrane, MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, Clinicaltrials.gov, and International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), and contacted Chagas experts. Selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment, using the Cochrane tool, were performed independently by pairs of reviewers. Discrepancies were solved by consensus within the team. Primary outcomes were parasite-related outcomes and efficacy or patient-related safety outcomes. We conducted a meta-analysis using RevMan 5.3 software and used GRADE summary of finding tables to present the certainty of evidence by outcome. We identified 655 records through our search strategy and 10 studies (four of them ongoing) met our inclusion criteria. We did not find any study directly comparing fixed vs adjusted doses of BZN, however, some outcomes allowed subgroup comparisons between fixed and adjusted doses of BZN against placebo. Moderate-certainty evidence suggests no important subgroup differences for positive PCR at one year and for three safety outcomes (drug discontinuation, peripheral neuropathy, and mild rash). The same effect was observed for any serious adverse events (low-certainty evidence). All subgroups showed similar effects (I2 0% for all these subgroup comparisons but 32% for peripheral neuropathy), supporting the equivalence of BZN schemes. We conclude that there is no direct evidence comparing fixed and adjusted doses of BZN. Based on low to very low certainty of evidence for critical clinical outcomes and moderate certainty of evidence for important outcomes, fixed and adjusted doses may be equivalent in terms of safety and efficacy. An individual patient data network meta-analysis could better address this issue.

Project description:BackgroundArtificial intelligence (AI) has been extensively used in a range of medical fields to promote therapeutic development. The development of diverse AI techniques has also contributed to early detections, disease diagnoses, and referral management. However, concerns about the value of advanced AI in disease diagnosis have been raised by health care professionals, medical service providers, and health policy decision makers.ObjectiveThis review aimed to systematically examine the literature, in particular, focusing on the performance comparison between advanced AI and human clinicians to provide an up-to-date summary regarding the extent of the application of AI to disease diagnoses. By doing so, this review discussed the relationship between the current advanced AI development and clinicians with respect to disease diagnosis and thus therapeutic development in the long run.MethodsWe systematically searched articles published between January 2000 and March 2019 following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis in the following databases: Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. According to the preset inclusion and exclusion criteria, only articles comparing the medical performance between advanced AI and human experts were considered.ResultsA total of 9 articles were identified. A convolutional neural network was the commonly applied advanced AI technology. Owing to the variation in medical fields, there is a distinction between individual studies in terms of classification, labeling, training process, dataset size, and algorithm validation of AI. Performance indices reported in articles included diagnostic accuracy, weighted errors, false-positive rate, sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. The results showed that the performance of AI was at par with that of clinicians and exceeded that of clinicians with less experience.ConclusionsCurrent AI development has a diagnostic performance that is comparable with medical experts, especially in image recognition-related fields. Further studies can be extended to other types of medical imaging such as magnetic resonance imaging and other medical practices unrelated to images. With the continued development of AI-assisted technologies, the clinical implications underpinned by clinicians' experience and guided by patient-centered health care principle should be constantly considered in future AI-related and other technology-based medical research.

Dataset Information

ELISA versus PCR for diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Publications

ELISA versus PCR for diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease: systematic review and meta-analysis.

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