Performance of an In-House Real-Time PCR Assay for Detecting Cytomegalovirus Infection among Transplant Patients from a Tertiary Care Centre

Abstract

The in-house viral load assay had a better correlation with clinical findings compared to the commercial assay. Quality assessment of these assays was done by the United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Scheme (UKNEQAS), an external proficiency testing programme, and by the National Institute for Biological Standard and Control (NIBSC) standard. For UKNEQAS and NIBSC standards, the bias between the assays was 0.73 logand 0.85 log, respectively. This difference is well within the acceptable range already reported in the literature.

Cost minimization analysis of an in-house molecular test for cytomegalovirus in relation to a commercial molecular system

“…The mean log difference was 0.51, which is similar to what has been described in other studies. 16 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 This difference of results found in this study is explained by the difference between the protocols used for DNA extraction, one of them automated and the other semi-automated. Besides, the difference can be related to the reagents used in each of the tests and in the fact that automation of the test reduces the operator-dependent factors differently from the in-house test.…”