Early serum (1→3)-β-D-glucan levels in patients with burn injury

Jeffrey W. Shupp, Ruta Petraitiene, Amin D. Jaskille, Anna R. Pavlovich, Sarah E. Matt, Do T. Nguyen, Melissa A. Kath, James C. Jeng, Marion H. Jordan, Malcolm Finkelman, Thomas J. Walsh, Shmuel Shoham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Serum (1→3)-β-D-glucan (BG) is increasingly used as diagnostic marker for invasive fungal infections. Exposure to gauze may lead to false-positive BG assays. The role of BG is unclear in thermally injured patients who frequently require extensive gauze coverage; therefore, we prospectively evaluated BG levels in burn-injured patients. Serum BG levels were measured in 18 burn patients immediately before application of the first dressing and 12h after. Patients were stratified by extent of total body surface area (TBSA) requiring gauze coverage: <20%, 20-39%, 40-60% and >60%. BG levels were obtained from patients with non-burn trauma as controls. BG results were positive (>80pgml -1) in 9/18 (50%) patients at baseline and in 8/18 (44%) 12h after application of the first dressing. BG levels were positive in 1/5 (20%) of patients with <20% TBSA requiring gauze and in 10/13 (77%) with ≥20% (P<0.05). None of the control patients had positive BG at any time point and none of the patients had candidemia at baseline. Mean serum BG levels decreased (19.44pgml -1) after gauze placement. False-positive serum BG elevations are common in this patient population. Positivity correlates with extent of TBSA injured, but is not impacted by the gauze itself.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)224-227
Number of pages4
JournalMycoses
Volume55
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Burn wound infection
  • Diagnosis of candidemia

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Dermatology
  • Infectious Diseases

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