Evaluation of the Vitek-MS™ system in the identification of Candida isolates from bloodstream infections

Background: Matrix-assisted laser desorption-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) represents a revolution in the identification of microorganisms of clinical interest. Many studies have confirmed the accuracy and fastness of this tool with routine strains. Aims: To identify clinical isolates of Candida from patients diagnosed with candidemia. Methods: Vitek-MS (TM) system was used with a collection of 298 blood isolates of the genus Candida represented by 9 different species. Sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA cluster was used as the reference method. Results: The results of Vitek-MS (TM) were concordant with those obtained with the reference method for 279 (93.62%) isolates (Kappa coefficient (kappa)=0.91). Vitek-MS (TM) misidentified 10 (3.36%) isolates and did not identify 9 (3.02%) isolates. Conclusions: This study determines the potential of Vitek-MS (TM) in yeast identification, being a reliable and fast alternative in the clinical laboratory, with an acceptable sensitivity of 82% (IC 95%: 70-90.6%), in comparison with a 100% (IC 95%: 92.9-100%) sensitivity of the conventional methods. (C) 2018 Asociacion Espanola de Micologia. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.