Evaluation of the BioFire® FilmArray® Pneumonia Panel for Detection of Viral and Bacterial Pathogens in Lower Respiratory Tract Specimens in the Setting of a Tertiary Care Academic Medical Center.

Webber, Daniel M; Wallace, Meghan A; Burnham, C A; Anderson, Neil W

Our objective was to evaluate the diagnostic yield and accuracy of the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel (BFPP) for identification of pathogens in lower respiratory tract specimens (n=200) from ED and ICU patients at a tertiary care academic medical center. Specimens were collected between January and November 2018, from patients ≥18 years of age, and had a culture performed as part of standard of care testing. The BFPP identified a viral or bacterial target in 117/200 (58.5%) samples, including Staphylococcus aureus in 22% of samples and Haemophilus influenzae in 14%, and both a viral and bacterial target in 4% of samples. The most common viruses detected by BFPP were rhinovirus/enterovirus (4.5%), influenza A (3%), and RSV (2%). Overall, there was strong correlation between BFPP and standard methods for detection of viruses (99.2%) and bacteria (96.8%). Most bacteria (60/61 [98.4%]) detected by standard methods were also identified by BFPP; and 92 additional bacteria were identified by BFPP alone, including 22/92 (23.9%) additional S. aureus and 25/92 (27.2%) H. influenzae, which were more frequently discordant when detected at low concentrations (S. aureus, p<0.001; H. influenzae, p<0.0001) and in sputum-type specimens (S. aureus, p<0.05). A potential limitation of the BFPP assay is the absence of fungal targets and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, which were detected in 26 and 4 of 200 specimens, respectively. Real-time specimen analysis with BFPP has the potential to identify bacterial pathogens and resistance markers 44.2 and 56.3 h faster than culture-based methods. The BFPP is a rapid and accurate method for detection of pathogens from lower respiratory tract infections.