Polymerase chain reaction for diagnosing invasive aspergillosis: getting closer but still a ways to go. Diseases Society of America

摘要

The technique of PCR for detection of Aspergillus in human specimens has been around in one form or another for almost 2 decades , but it is still regarded as too experimental to use for defining invasive fungal disease. The reasons for not including PCR in the European Organisation for Research on Treatment of Cancer and the Mycoses Study Group criteria are as frustrating as they are manifold but include the lack of standardization and the absence of a commercially available system. Notwithstanding the slow development, there have been advances, as attested by the study by White and colleagues in this issue of the journal.