Multicenter evaluation of the amplicor enterovirus PCR test with cerebrospinal fluid from patients with aseptic meningitis

The Amplicor Enterovirus PCR test was compared with viral culture for the detection of enteroviruses in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens. In a multicenter study in which nine laboratories participated, a total of 476 CSF specimens were collected from patients with suspected aseptic meningitis. Sixty-eight samples were positive by PCR (14.4%), whereas 49 samples were positive by culture (10.4%), demonstrating that the Amplicor Enterovirus PCR test was significantly more sensitive than culture (P < 0.001). After discrepancy analysis the sensitivity and specificity of the Amplicor Enterovirus PCR test obtained by using viral culture as the 'gold standard' were 85.7 and 93.9%, respectively. Our results with the CSF specimens collected in different countries demonstrate that the Amplicor test is capable of detecting a large variety of enterovirus serotypes and epidemiologically unrelated isolates in CSF specimens from patients with aseptic meningitis. The Amplicor Enterovirus PCR test is a rapid assay which can be routinely performed with CSF samples and is an important improvement for the rapid diagnosis of enteroviral meningitis.