Evaluation of a New Laboratory Test Measuring Plasma (1-3)-β-D-glucan in the Diagnosis of Candida Deep Mycosis

Comparison with a Serologic Test

Abstract

We evaluated the effectiveness of the newly developed WAKO^TM β-glucan test which measures plasma (1-3)-β-D-glucan concentrations in the diagnosis of Candida deep mycosis. This test was compared to the Cand-Tec test. The WAKO^TM β-glucan test and Cand-Tec test were performed on 212 plasma specimens which were taken at 212 instances from 62 immunocompromised patients with serious diseases; i.e. hematopoietic malignancy, solid malignant tumor, etc. The sensitivities and specificities for the WAKO^TM β-glucan test were 84.8 and 85.9%, respectively, and 60.9 and 80.0% for the Cand-Tec test.