Determination of urinary d-/l-arabinitol ratios as a biomarker for invasive candidiasis in children with cardiac diseases

Abstract

A non-invasive, non-culture-based method of determining urinary d-/l-arabinitol (d-/l-ARA) ratios was investigated as a tool for the diagnosis of invasive candidiasis in nosocomial paediatric infection cases. The study encompassed 138 children aged 4 days to 16 years (mean±sd=1.6±4.2 years) with congenital heart defects (91.4 %) or with rhythm disorders or circulatory failure (8.6 %). ARA enantiomers were detected by GC using an electron capture detector. Positive d-/l-ARA ratios were found for 11/11 patients with proven candidiasis and 17/19 patients with clinically suspected invasive candidiasis. Thirty children were undergoing antifungal chemotherapy. d-/l-ARA ratios (mean±sd) were 2.601±0.544 in hospitalized cardiac patients without fungal infection and 5.120±1.253 in those receiving antifungal therapy (P<0.001). The sensitivity of the method was 100 %, the specificity 97.2 %, the positive predictive value was 78.6 % and the negative predictive value was 100 %.