The Utility of Biofire Filmarray in Evaluation of Entero Pathogens Triggers in Patients With Chronic Diarrhea

Chronic diarrhea is a common condition and a key symptom in many disorders. It is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and one of the most common reasons for referral to a gastroenterology clinic.The prevalence varies depending on population and the definition of diarrhea used. It affects approximately 5% of the population at any given point in time, although the exact prevalence is unknown. Diarrhea is associated with 4 pathophysiological mechanisms: osmotic, secretory, exudative and altered motility. It is more useful to classify patients presenting with symptoms of diarrhea according to ''functional'' or ''organic'' characteristics. It is usually difficult to make a reliable differentiation between organic and functional causes in patients with chronic diarrhea based only on history and physical examination .

The standard evaluation of patients with chronic diarrhea that begins with a detailed history, a careful physical examination and then basic diagnostic tests is critical for optimal treatment and prevention. Initially, thought needs to exclude several other possibilities as (a) fecal incontinence masquerading as diarrhea, (b) iatrogenic diarrhea due to drugs, surgery, or therapeutic radiation, (c) chronic infections, and (d) irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D).

The detection of a broad array of potentially offending agents has traditionally required a combination of microbiologic approaches, including bacterial culture, antigen detection, microscopy, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The new multiplex PCR-based panels have several advantages over conventional methods including (i) reduced sample volume requirements, (ii) broad coverage without the need to select specific tests, (iii) enhanced ability to detect coinfections (iv) increased sensitivity and specificity as high as 97-100% and (v) higher throughput.The food and drug administration (FDA) cleared and recommended the use of FilmArray GI panel (BioFire Diagnostics), which targets 22 analytes (bacteria with bacterial toxin, viruses, and parasites)