Clinical practice patterns in hospitalized patients at risk for invasive candidiasis: role of antifungal stewardship programs in an era of rapid diagnostics.

Background: Rapid diagnostic tests for Candida are becoming available that may supplement traditional microbiological identification.
Objective: Assess clinical practice patterns in patients with or at risk of candidiasis who may benefit from the use of rapid diagnostic tests.
Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of patients with candidemia or receiving systemic antifungals conducted at a university-affiliated tertiary care hospital. Time to initiation of therapy, Candida species, time to identification, and indications for antifungal use were assessed.
Results: A total of 162 patients with candidemia aged 58 ± 17 years were identified. Average time to yeast identification yeast was 2.2 ± 1.3 days and varied by Candida species (range = 0.6-7.9 days). Average time for patient to start antifungal therapy was 3.5 ± 2.1 days. In Monte Carlo simulations, average time to initiation of antifungal therapy was 0.6 ± 0.2 days for T2Candida, 2.6 ± 1.3 days for PNA-FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization using peptide nucleic acid probes), and 2.5 ± 1.4 days for MALDI-TOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight). Use of T2Candida on the day of the blood culture collection resulted in 3136 to 6078 fewer doses of echinocandins annually per 5000 patients.
Conclusion: Many interventions are possible for antifungal stewardship programs to improve care of patients at risk for systemic candidiasis, including rapid identification of yeast species and limiting unnecessary antifungal agents. Technology enabling rapid diagnosis of Candida will be paramount to appropriate, cost-effective treatment of patients with or at risk for candidiasis.