Reevaluation of the Premier Clostridium difficile toxin A and B immunoassay with comparison to glutamate dehydrogenase common antigen testing evaluating Bartels cytotoxin and Prodesse ProGastro™ Cd polymerase chain reaction as confirmatory procedures

Enzyme immunoassays are currently the most common tests used in the clinical laboratory for the detection of Clostridium difficile toxins; however, significant problems with their performance have recently been described. We prospectively reevaluated the Meridian Premier C. difficile toxin A/B assay with direct comparison to a 2-step algorithm that screened for C. difficile common antigen and compared cytotoxin and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as confirmatory procedures. The Premier assay lacked sufficient sensitivity, missing 25% of true-positive samples. PCR was the most sensitive method and the only procedure that allowed same day testing and reporting.