Candida detection system (CAND- TEC) to differentiate between Candida albicans colonization and disease.
Eighty-three serum specimens from 24 patients infected with Candida albicans were examined for circulating Candida protein antigens with the Candida Detection System (CAND- TEC; Ramco Laboratories, Inc., Houston, Tex.). The medical records of each patient were reviewed for clinical evidence of Candida colonization or disease, predisposing factors for infection, underlying illness, the presence of a contaminated indwelling venous catheter, intravenous amphotericin B therapy, and outcome. Forty-nine serum specimens with antigen titers of 1:2 or less were obtained either from colonized patients or at a time when disseminated disease was not yet clinically suspected. Except for five specimens from two colonized patients, one with a contaminated arterial line, the other specimens with titers of 1:8 or greater (n = 14) were obtained from patients who had been clinically diagnosed and treated for disseminated candidiasis. Serum specimens with titers of 1:4 were often from patients with deep-seated candidal infection but were not uniformly diagnostic; in this situation additional specimens should be tested for Candida antigen titers. Only 1 of 24 serum specimens from patients with no evidence of C. albicans infection had a Candida protein antigen titer of 1:8. With a 1:8 or greater titer as a criterion for dissemination, the sensitivity of the CAND- TEC system was 71%, with a specificity of 98%. If the 1:8 titer for the colonized patient with a contaminated arterial line is not considered a false-positive result, the CAND- TEC sensitivity was 83%. The latex agglutination assay appears to be a useful, rapid, and noninvasive means of laboratory diagnosis of systemic candidiasis. The recovery of C. albicans from at least three body sites may also be a useful predictor of disseminated disease.[1]References
- Candida detection system (CAND-TEC) to differentiate between Candida albicans colonization and disease. Fung, J.C., Donta, S.T., Tilton, R.C. J. Clin. Microbiol. (1986) [Pubmed]
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