Comparison of Accelerate PhenoTest BC Kit and MALDI-TOF MS/VITEK 2 System for the rapid identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of gram-negative bacilli causing bloodstream infections

Abstract

Background: Our laboratory uses matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI) and the VITEK 2 system (DV2) directly from positive blood cultures (BC) for organism identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Our objective was to compare direct MALDI–DV2 with a commercial BC ID–AST platform, the Accelerate Pheno system (AXDX), in the ID–AST of clinical and seeded BC positive for gram-negative bacilli (GNB). Methods: BC positive for GNB were collected over a 3-mo period and tested using AXDX and direct MALDI–DV2 and compared with conventional methods. A subset of sterile BC were seeded with multi-drug-resistant GNB. Results: Twenty-nine clinical samples and 35 seeded samples were analyzed. Direct MALDI had a higher ID failure rate (31.0%) than AXDX (3.4%; p < 0.001). Time to ID–AST was 1.5–6.9 h, 5.8–16.5 h, and 21.6–33.0 h for AXDX, direct MALDI–DV2, and conventional methods, respectively ( p < 0.001). For clinical samples, AXDX and DV2 had essential agreement (EA) or categorical agreement (CA) of more than 96%. For seeded samples, AXDX had EA, CA, VME, ME, and minor error (mE) of 93.2%, 89.0%, 2.2%, 0%, and 9.2%, respectively. AXDX had a large number of non-reports (6.1%) stemming from meropenem testing. DV2 had EA, CA, VME, ME, and mE of 97.5%, 94.7%, 1.3%, 0%, and 4.1%, respectively. Conclusions: Direct MALDI–DV2 and AXDX both had high agreement for clinical samples, but direct MALDI–DV2 had higher agreement when challenged with MDR GNB.