Comparison of two commercial tests (Immy vs. Dynamiker) for cryptococcal capsular antigen

• Main Authors: María Clara Noguera, Patricia Escandón, Javier Rodríguez, Alexander Parody, Leidy Camargo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2021
• Subjects: Lateral flow assay; CrAg-LFA; IMMY; Dynamiker; Point-of-Care test; Diagnostic performance; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/0037-8682-0307-2021; https://doaj.org/article/c358ad7f039b434094428ef1e9637722

Abstract INTRODUCTION Lateral flow assay is an advanced method useful in the early diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis. We aimed to compare two commercial tests for cryptococcal capsular antigen in the sera of asymptomatic patients with human immunodeficiency virus in Barranquilla, Colombia. METHODS Thawed (n=162) previously collected serums (2016-2019) were processed using IMMY and Dynamiker cryptococcal antigen lateral flow assay. RESULTS Compared to IMMY’s results, Dynamiker’s sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and kappa index were 100%, 89.9%, 48.3%, 100.0%, and 0.61, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The Dynamiker test had excellent sensitivity, acceptable specificity, and a low detection threshold for cryptococcal antigen in the tested samples.