Performance of α-Defensins in Diagnosing Nosocomial Ventriculitis.

Abstract

Nosocomial ventriculitis can be an extremely difficult infectious disease process to diagnose, thereby exposing patients to increased morbidity and unwarranted aggressive antibiotics. Thus, novel ventriculitis diagnostics are drastically needed. In this study, we demonstrate excellent sensitivity and specificity of cerebral spinal fluid α-defensins to aid in diagnosing ventriculitis.