A Retrospective Study of Factors Contributing to the Performance of an Interferon-Gamma Release Assay Blood Test for Tuberculosis Infection.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant global health concern. Accurate detection of latent TB infection is crucial for effective control and prevention. We aimed to assess the performance of an interferon-gamma release assay blood test (QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus [QFT-Plus]) in various clinical contexts and identify conditions that affect its results.

Applicability of the cobas 6800 System for Epstein-Barr viral load quantitation using whole-blood specimens.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the analytical performance of the cobas 6800 System (Roche Diagnostics) and assess the feasibility of using whole-blood specimens instead of plasma.

Methods: The analytical performance of the cobas EBV test (Roche Diagnostics) was evaluated. Thereafter, 120 clinical samples were collected to compare the cobas EBV test and the artus EBV RG PCR Kit (Qiagen).

Routine breast milk monitoring using automated molecular assay system reduced postnatal CMV infection in preterm infants.

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmitted through breast milk poses fatal risks to preterm infants. However, current molecular assay systems often do not accommodate breast milk samples. In this study, we evaluated the analytical and clinical performance of the measurement procedure of CMV load in breast milk utilizing the Cobas CMV test on the Cobas 6,800 system.

Evaluating the Efficiency of the Cobas 6800 System for BK Virus Detection in Plasma and Urine Samples.

We evaluated the overall performance of the Cobas 6800 BKV test in detecting BK virus (BKV). We examined the imprecision of the Cobas 6800 BKV test and compared the qualitative and quantitative results obtained from the Cobas 6800 BKV test and the Real-Q BKV quantification assay. We assessed 88 plasma and 26 urine samples collected between September and November 2022 from patients with BKV infection using the Real-Q BKV quantitative assay.

Predictive indicators for determining red blood cell transfusion strategies in the emergency department.

Background And Importance: Appropriate decision-making is critical for transfusions to prevent unnecessary adverse outcomes; however, transfusion in the emergency department (ED) can only be decided based on sparse evidence in a limited time window.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify factors associated with appropriate red blood cell (RBC) transfusion in the ED by analyzing retrospective data of patients who received transfusions at a single center.

Outcome Measures And Analysis: This study analyzed associations between transfusion appropriateness and sex, age, initial vital signs, an ED triage score [the Korean Triage and Acuity Scale (KTAS)], the length of stay, and the hemoglobin (Hb) concentration.

Utility of Epstein-Barr Viral Load in Blood for Diagnosing and Predicting Prognosis of Lymphoma: A Comparison with Epstein-Barr Virus-Encoded RNA in Situ Hybridization.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous pathogen that persists in a small portion of B cells after primary infection and is etiologically associated with multiple lymphoma subtypes. We evaluated the clinical utility of EBV real-time quantitative PCR in comparison with the widely used Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA (EBER) in situ hybridization (ISH) method in 912 patients with four lymphoma subtypes: diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTCL), peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL), and Hodgkin lymphoma. We also assessed the impact of EBV positivity determined from each method or a combination of both methods on mortality using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazard regression.

Substantial Improvement in Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Identification Using ASTA MicroIDSys Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry with an Upgraded Database.

Identifying using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is challenging. We evaluated the performance of MALDI-TOF MS in identifying nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) using the ASTA MicroIDSys system (ASTA Inc., Suwon, Korea) with the MycoDB v1.

Age-group-specific reference intervals for anti-Müllerian hormone and its diagnostic performance for polycystic ovary syndrome in a Korean population.

Background: We established age-group-specific reference intervals for serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels in a Korean population and investigated the effectiveness of AMH assay for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) diagnosis.

Methods: We analyzed serum levels of AMH, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) from 1540 Korean women. Subjects were divided into three groups: healthy, benign gynecologic diseases, and PCOS.

Comparison of two β-D-glucan assays for detecting invasive fungal diseases in immunocompromised patients.

(1-3)-β-D-glucan (BDG) is a major biomarker of invasive fungal diseases (IFDs), which are life-threatening for immunodeficient patients. We compared the clinical performance of two BDG-detection assays. The precision, linearity, reference interval, and limit of quantitation of the Wako BDG assay were analyzed and the performance was compared with that of the Goldstream BDG assay using 272 clinical serum samples.

The novel HLA-B allele, HLA-B*44:345N, discovered in a Korean family.

The HLA-B*44:345N allele differs from HLA-B*44:03:01:01 by a 19 nucleotide deletion at positions 440 to 458.