Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ehrenstein, B
• Reischl, U

Titel

PCR-based detection of pathogens in clinical rheumatology

Ist Teil von

• Zeitschrift für Rheumatologie, 2016-05, Vol.75 (4), p.381-388

Ort / Verlag

Germany

Erscheinungsjahr

2016

Quelle

SpringerLink

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• In the differential diagnostics of autoimmune-mediated rheumatic diseases, rheumatologists often have to consider infections (e. g. Lyme arthritis) or reactive diseases (e. g. reactive arthritis after urogenital bacterial infections). Furthermore, infections with an atypical presentation or caused by atypical pathogens (opportunistic infections) can complicate the immunosuppressive therapy of autoimmune diseases. For this purpose not only conventional microbiological culture methods but also PCR-based methods are increasingly being applied for the direct detection of pathogens in clinical specimens. The aim of this overview is to present commonly used PCR methods in the clinical practice of rheumatology and to describe their benefits and limitations compared to culture-based detection methods.