Evaluation of the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel for Detection of Viral and Bacterial Pathogens in Lower Respiratory Tract Specimens in the Setting of a Tertiary Care Academic Medical Center

Our objective was to evaluate the diagnostic yield and accuracy of the BioFire FilmArray pneumonia panel (BFPP) for identification of pathogens in lower respiratory tract specimens ( = 200) from emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU) patients at a tertiary care academic medical center. Specimens were collected between January and November 2018, from patients ≥18 years of age, and culture was performed as part of standard-of-care testing. The BFPP identified a viral or bacterial target in 117/200 (58.5%) samples, including in 22% of samples and in 14%, and both a viral and bacterial target in 4% of samples. The most common viruses detected by BFPP were rhinovirus/enterovirus (4.5%), influenza A virus (3%), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (2%). Overall, there was strong correlation between BFPP and standard methods for detection of viruses (99.2%) and bacteria (96.8%). Most bacteria (60/61 [98.4%]) detected by standard methods were also identified by BFPP, and 92 additional bacteria were identified by BFPP alone, including 22/92 (23.9%) additional isolates and 25/92 (27.2%) isolates, which were more frequently discordant when detected at low concentrations ( ,