Diagnosing serious infections can be challenging when conventional testing is inconclusive, delayed, or affected by prior antimicrobial treatment. In a recent webinar hosted by Matthew Binnicker, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Omar Abu Saleh, M.B.B.S., discussed how microbial cell-free DNA testing, available through Mayo Clinic Laboratories' Strategic Collaboration with Karius, can help identify difficult-to-diagnose infections and support more informed treatment decisions.

“The most obvious group for me is patients with culture-negative endovascular infection,” Dr. Abu Saleh said. “That is one of the highest-yield indications for this technology.”

Drawing on real-world patient cases, Dr. Abu Saleh highlighted how microbial cell-free DNA testing can support diagnosis when traditional methods fail to identify a cause, particularly in culture-negative infections, immunocompromised patients, and cases involving invasive fungal disease.

Key insights from the webinar

• Culture-negative endovascular infections are among the highest-yield applications for microbial cell-free DNA testing.
• The technology can provide added diagnostic value for immunocompromised patients and invasive fungal infections.
• Metagenomic testing may help shorten time to diagnosis when conventional methods are limited or delayed.
• Results should always be interpreted alongside clinical findings, imaging, and other laboratory data.

Watch the full webinar to learn more about the role of microbial cell-free DNA metagenomic sequencing in infection diagnosis and the testing available through Mayo Clinic Laboratories' Strategic Collaboration with Karius.