Diagnosing vaginal infections through measurement of biogenic amines by ion mobility spectrometry

Objective: To compare diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis according to the Amsel criteria with measurement by ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) of the biogenic amines that are present in vaginal discharge fluid. Study design: Duplicate samples of vaginal fluid were collected from 115 unselected and consecutive patients in a vaginitis clinic in Detroit. All samples were evaluated using Amsel criteria and the results were compared with the diagnosis based on the IMS results. Results: The incidence rate of vaginal infections was assessed on the basis of both tests and the frequency of BV was found to be 17.4%. The sensitivity and specificity for bacterial vaginosis diagnosis using IMS determination were 95.5% and 98.9%, respectively, with an accuracy of 94.4%. Conclusions: The results show that IMS may be used to rapidly diagnose this common vaginal infection with high accuracy. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.