Molecular Amplification Assays Accuracy for Diagnosis of Staphylococcal Pneumonia: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Rapid and accurate identification of staphylococcal pneumonia is crucial for effective antimicrobial stewardship. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic value of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) from lower respiratory tract (LRT) samples of suspected pneumonia patients for avoiding superfluous empirical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) treatment. PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane library database were searched from inception to September 02, 2020. Data analysis was carried out using a bivariate random-effects model to estimate pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), and negative likelihood ratio (NLR). Of 1808 citations, 24 publications comprising 32 datasets met our inclusion criteria. Twenty-two studies (n = 4630) assessed the accuracy of NAAT for methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) detection, while ten studies (n = 2996) demonstrated the accuracy of NAAT for MRSA detection. The pooled NAAT sensitivity and specificity for all MSSA detection was higher [sensitivity: 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.89-0.94), specificity: 0.94 (95% CI 0.94-0.95)] as compared to MRSA [sensitivity: 0.75 (95% CI 0.69-0.80), specificity: 0.88 (95% CI 0.86-0.89)] in lower respiratory tract (LRT) samples. NAAT pooled sensitivity differed marginally among differing LRT samples, including sputum, endotracheal aspirate (ETA), and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Noticeably, NAAT pooled specificity against microbiological culture was consistently ≥88% across various types of LRT samples. A meta-regression and subgroup analysis of study design, sample condition, and patient selection method could not explain the heterogeneity (P >0.05) in the diagnostic efficiency. This meta-analysis has demonstrated that NAAT can be applied as the preferred initial test for timely diagnosis of staphylococcal pneumonia in LRT samples for successful antimicrobial therapy.