Gas-liquid chromatography for rapid diagnosis and monitoring of invasive candidal infections and candidemia.

Gas-liquid chromatography was performed on serum samples obtained from selected patients with infectious diseases. The characteristic chromatographic profile was seen in serum samples from 21 patients with either documented invasive candidiasis or candidemia. Serum samples from ten normal controls, three patients with candidal colonization, and 11 clinically noninfected patients, seven of whom had fevers attributable to malignancies, showed normal chromatograms. The eradication of Candida from deep tissue and/or bloodstream was reflected promptly by a normalization of the chromatograms in all six cases. Use of amphotericin B was safely avoided in three patients with candidemia whose follow-up chromatograms became normal following the discontinuation of intravenous catheterization. This test promises to be useful in the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of invasive candidal infections and candidemia.