PURPOSE: To evaluate the utility of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on intraocular clinical specimens ( @entity7462 [ @entity7462 ] and @entity15811 [ @entity15811 ]) as an etiologic diagnostic tool relative to microbiological culture methods in @entity3225 . METHODS: Conventional bacterial and mycologic cultures and PCR for eubacterial and panfungal genomes were applied for etiologic diagnosis on pairs of @entity7462 and @entity15811 obtained from 72 @entity1 with clinically established @entity3225 . RESULTS: Based on cultures, an infectious etiology was established in 27 (37.5%) of 72 @entity1 . PCR detected infectious etiology in all 72 @entity1 . PCR increased the clinical sensitivity over culture by 62.5% (p<0.0001, McNemar test). The frequency of culture positivity, single infections, and @entity325 varied significantly among the types of @entity3225 (p<0.0001, chi-square test). PCR detected an infectious etiology in 48 @entity1 and @entity325 in 24 @entity1 . An etiology was established by PCR on 56 (77.8%) @entity7462 and 65 (90.3%) @entity15811 of the 72 @entity1 and this difference had no statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: PCR on intraocular specimens as an etiologic diagnostic tool has been shown to be specific and severalfold more sensitive than cultures and clinically useful. Therefore, PCR may be considered the gold standard to establish the etiology of @entity3225 . As there is no statistically significant difference in the results of PCR on @entity7462 and @entity15811 , PCR on @entity7462 could be the method of choice considering safety and simplicity of the procedure of its collection.

Diagnostic utility of polymerase chain reaction on intraocular specimens to establish the etiology of XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity15811 :: ('MESH:D014823', 'Disease') :: ['vitreous fluid', 'VF'] @entity7462 :: ('MESH:C562390', 'Disease') :: ['aqueous humor', 'AH'] @entity325 :: ('MESH:D060085', 'Disease') :: ['polymicrobial infection'] @entity3225 :: ('MESH:D009877', 'Disease') :: ['infectious endophthalmitis', 'endophthalmitis']
@entity3225 :: (MESH:D009877,Disease) :: ['infectious endophthalmitis']
