The Utility of Microbiological Studies in Diagnosis and Management of Suspected Dermatological Infection | PracticeUpdate

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• This retrospective medical record review evaluates the value of microbiological tissue studies in the management of suspected dermatological infection using data from 150 patients randomly selected from those who met inclusion criteria. Approximately half (50%) of the bacterial cultures were positive. Only 4.9% and 4.6% of fungal cultures and acid-fast bacillus cultures were positive, respectively. For identifying infection, microbiological studies had a sensitivity and specificity of 80.8% and 59.2%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values for diagnosis of infection were 51.2% and 85.3%, respectively. In just fewer than half of cases (48.0%), the diagnosis was changed based on the results of the microbiology studies.

• Despite the possible costs, such as potential need for an additional biopsy, these findings suggest that microbiological tissue studies commonly impact clinical management and that further study of ways to enhance their utility is warranted.

  – Anna Wile, MD

The Utility of Microbiological Studies in Diagnosis and Management of Suspected Dermatological Infection

JAMA Dermatol 2017 Aug 30;[EPub Ahead of Print], FD Xia, P Song, C Joyce, A Mostaghimi 

Benjamin Hidalgo-Matlock

Skin Care Physicians of Costa Rica

4000-1054

2208-8206

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