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Voit F, Erber J, Feuerherd M, Fries H, Bitterlich N, Diehl-Wiesenecker E, Gladis S, Lieb J, Protzer U, Schneider J, Geisler F, Somasundaram R, Schmid RM, Bauer W, Spinner CD. Rapid point-of-care detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection in exhaled breath using ion mobility spectrometry: a pilot study. Eur J Med Res 2023; 28:318. [PMID: 37660038 PMCID: PMC10474630 DOI: 10.1186/s40001-023-01284-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND An effective testing strategy is essential for pandemic control of the novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Breath gas analysis can expand the available toolbox for diagnostic tests by using a rapid, cost-beneficial, high-throughput point-of-care test. We conducted a bi-center clinical pilot study in Germany to evaluate breath gas analysis using multi-capillary column ion mobility spectrometry (MCC-IMS) to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection. METHODS Between September 23, 2020, and June 11, 2021, breath gas measurements were performed on 380 patients (SARS-CoV-2 real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive: 186; PCR negative: 194) presenting to the emergency department (ED) with respiratory symptoms. RESULTS Breath gas analysis using MCC-IMS identified 110 peaks; 54 showed statistically significant differences in peak intensity between the SARS-CoV-2 PCR-negative and PCR-positive groups. A decision tree analysis classification resulted in a sensitivity of 83% and specificity of 86%, but limited robustness to dataset changes. Modest values for the sensitivity (74%) and specificity (52%) were obtained using linear discriminant analysis. A systematic search for peaks led to a sensitivity of 77% and specificity of 67%; however, validation by transferability to other data is questionable. CONCLUSIONS Despite identifying several peaks by MCC-IMS with significant differences in peak intensity between PCR-negative and PCR-positive samples, finding a classification system that allows reliable differentiation between the two groups proved to be difficult. However, with some modifications to the setup, breath gas analysis using MCC-IMS may be a useful diagnostic toolbox for SARS-CoV-2 infection. TRIAL REGISTRATION This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov on September 21, 2020 (NCT04556318; Study-ID: HC-N-H-2004).
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Voit
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Rechts Der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, Munich, Germany.
| | - J Erber
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Rechts Der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, Munich, Germany
| | - M Feuerherd
- Institute of Virology, Helmholtz Center Munich, TUM, School of Medicine, Munich, Germany
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - H Fries
- B. Braun Melsungen AG, Melsungen, Germany
| | - N Bitterlich
- ABX-CRO Advanced Pharmaceutical Services Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Dresden, Germany
| | - E Diehl-Wiesenecker
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - S Gladis
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Rechts Der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, Munich, Germany
| | - J Lieb
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Rechts Der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, Munich, Germany
| | - U Protzer
- Institute of Virology, Helmholtz Center Munich, TUM, School of Medicine, Munich, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich Partner Site, Munich, Germany
| | - J Schneider
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Rechts Der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, Munich, Germany
| | - F Geisler
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Rechts Der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, Munich, Germany
| | - R Somasundaram
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - R M Schmid
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Rechts Der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, Munich, Germany
| | - W Bauer
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - C D Spinner
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Rechts Der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, Munich, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich Partner Site, Munich, Germany
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