Effect of IN Hospital PCR Based Assessment of Patients With Lower Respiratory Tract Infections on LEngth of Stay

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Does the use of the BIOFIRE® FILMARRAY® Pneumonia Panel plus in hospitalized patients with lower respiratory infections lead to a reduction in length of hospital stay (LOS) and customized antibiotic treatment (higher amount of specific vs empiric treatment, shorter treatment duration, less antibiotic treatment, lower incidence of side effects) compared to the standard of care?

Detailed Description
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Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) like pneumonia, exacerbations of COPD or bronchitis are caused by several viral and/or bacterial pathogens. Even in huge epidemiological studies the causative pathogen can just be detected in approximately 50% of pneumonia cases. In clinical practice the pathogen is only known in few cases, e.g. Legionella via urine antigen test. It is impossible to distinguish the triggering bacteria by clinical parameters and even accurate differentiation between bacterial and viral infections is often not possible. The same problem exists for other LRTIs. The lack of knowledge of the causative pathogen leads to several problems: First, clinicians tend to observe patients after treatment initiation for a longer period than probably necessary, which may lead to an increased length of hospital stay. Secondly, the antibiotic treatment has to be broad enough to cover all possible pathogens empirically. This might lead to an overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics, an increased risk of side effects, the development of antibiotic resistance or even delayed treatment of the causative agent. Finally, antibiotics are prescribed erroneously for viral infections, which have been misinterpreted as bacterial infections by clinicians. The BIOFIRE® FILMARRAY® Pneumonia Panel plus can help to solve these problems by identifying the causative pathogen in LRTIs within 1.5 hours. The decision of the treatment and its duration would be pathogen driven and no longer just empirically based on a lot of unknown factors. The investigators would like to perform the following study with two groups: standard of care (control group) vs Pneumonia panel plus (intervention group). Both groups will receive the standard of care treatment but the intervention group will additionally have their sputum analyzed via the BIOFIRE® FILMARRAY® Pneumonia Panel plus. Additional information empiric vs specific treatment: empiric therapy - every antimicrobial therapy prescribed without knowing the pathogen o Amoxicillin/Clavulanic acid or Cefuroxime or Ceftriaxone/Cefotaxime or Piperacillin/Tazobactam or Levofloxacin Specific therapy - pathogen driven, prescribed knowing the pathogen; narrowed spectrum of agent Pneumococcus - Penicillin G H. influenzae - Cefuroxime or Doxycycline Moraxella - Cefuroxime or Doxycycline MSSA - Cefazolin or Flucloxacillin MRSA - Linezolid or Vancomycin Pseudomonas - Ceftazidime E. coli - Cefuroxime or third generation Cephalosporin or Ciprofloxacin Klebsiella - Cefuroxime or third generation Cephalosporin or Ciprofloxacin Proteus, Serratia - third generation Cephalosporin or Ciprofloxacin Enterobacter cloacae - Ertapenem Legionella - Levofloxacin or Azithromycin Mycoplasma - Azithromycin or Doxycycline In case of ESBLs - Ertapenem or Meropenem In case of carbapenemases - Ceftazidime/Avibactam (OXA48, KPC) or Meropenem/Vaborbactam (KPC) or Aztreonam +/- Ceftazidime/Avibactam (MBL +- others)

Official Title
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Effect of IN Hospital PCR Based Assessment of Patients With Lower Respiratory Tract Infections on LEngth of Stay - INHALE Trial

Conditions
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Respiratory Infection

Intervention / Treatment
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* Diagnostic Test: Respiratory Panel PCR Sputum


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Age ≥18 years Hospitalised patients on a general ward Ability to give consent Ability to produce sputum AND (one of the following diagnosis) acute exacerabation of COPD (defined as known COPD and worsening of symptoms like dyspnea +/- wheezing +/- increased sputum purulence and the need for additional treatment) Pneumonia (diagnosed via chest X-ray) OR Lower respiratory infection (which does not belong to one of the two former diagnosis) with following symptoms: At least one criterion Cough (more than usual if smoker) Dyspnea Increased sputum purulence AND (at least one criterion) Respiratory rate ≥22/min Reduced oxygen saturation (<95%) (or worsening of oxygen saturation by 3% (e.g. in patients with COPD) Fever (temp >38°C) Rales/wheezing Chest pain upon breathing Exclusion Criteria: Other proven or suspected systemic diseases which require antibiotic treatment, like: Intraabdominal infections (appendicitis, cholecystitis, diverticulitis, peritonitis) C. difficile associated diarrhea (only if existing on admission otherwise it will be identified as a side effect) Urinary tract infections like pyelonephritis, urosepsis, cystitis + fever (asymptomatic bacteriuria is NOT an exclusion criterion) Acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (erysipelas, abscess with systemic symptoms, diabetic foot infection, osteomyelitis) Another single cause which can explain the respiratory symptoms better than an infection (acute heart failure, pulmonary embolism, hypertension induced lung edema) Proven respiratory infection via another PCR based system (e.g. influenza or tuberculosis) Inability to give consent Inability to produce sputum Moribund and palliative patients

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| No Intervention: Standard of Care<br>standard of care (SOC) group = control group: Routine laboratory parameters (CBC, CRP, kidney and liver parameters, etc.) on the day of admission and when clinically necessary - decision is made by the physician in charge Sputum microscopy for quality assessment (via Bartlett score) Chest X-ray on the day of admission or the day after 2 Sets of blood cultures (if temperature >38°) Pneumococcus urine antigen test for every patient with proven or suspected pneumonia Legionella urine antigen test for every patient with proven or suspected pneumonia and clinical suspicion for Legionella infection (travel history, air condition, elevated CK, hyponatremia, reduced kidney function) Antibiotic treatment if deemed necessary by the treating physician | |
| Experimental: Standard of Care + Respiratory Panel<br>Pneumonia panel plus group = intervention group Sputum analysis via the BIOFIRE® FILMARRAY® Pneumonia Panel plus Routine laboratory parameters (CBC, CRP, kidney and liver parameters, etc.) on the day of admission and when clinically necessary - decision is made by the physician in charge Sputum microscopy for quality assessment (via Bartlett score) Chest X-ray on the day of admission or the day after 2 Sets of blood cultures Pneumococcus urine antigen test for every patient with proven or suspected pneumonia Legionella urine antigen test for every patient with proven or suspected pneumonia and Antibiotic treatment if deemed necessary by the treating physician | Diagnostic Test: Respiratory Panel PCR Sputum<br>* Multiplex PCR Respiratory Panel from Biomerieux used on Patients Sputum<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| length of stay (LOS) in days | How long is the lenght of stay in days (half-days)? | From admission to discharge or death, whichever comes first, assessed up to 12 Months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Duration of antibiotic treatment needed represented as days of treatment (DOT) | How long is the duration of antibiotic treatment in days? | From start of antibiotic treatment to discontinuation of any cause, assessed up to 12 Months | 
| Number of usage of specific vs empiric antibiotic treatment | Is there a difference in used antibiotic treatment? | From start of antibiotic treatment to discontinuation of any cause, assessed up to 12 Months | 
| Cost of antibiotic treatment | Is there a differnece in cost of antibiotic treatment? | From start of antibiotic treatment to discontinuation of any cause, assessed up to 12 Months | 
| In hospital and 30-day mortality | Is there a difference in 30-day mortality? | From admission to death or 30 days after admission | 
| C. difficile associated diarrhea within 30-day-follow-up | Is there a diference in incidence of C. difficile associated diarrhea? | From admission to death or 30 days after admission | 
| 30-day re-admission rate | Is there a difference in 30-day re-admission rate? | From admission to death or 30 days after admission | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Biofire