TABLE III.

Comparison of Molecular and Laboratory Tests Used to Diagnose Periprosthetic Infections^*

	Sensitivity	Specificity	Positive Predictive Value	Negative Predictive Value	Accuracy
rRNA RT-PCR	0.71 (0.55 to 0.71)	1.00 (0.96 to 1.00)	1.00 (0.77 to 1.00)	0.93 (0.88 to 0.93)	0.94 (0.87 to 0.94)
C-reactive protein	0.21 (0.08 to 0.34)	0.94 (0.90 to 0.98)	0.50 (0.20 to 0.80)	0.81 (0.78 to 0.84)	0.78 (0.72 to 0.84)
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate	0.71 (0.49 to 0.87)	0.82 (0.76 to 0.86)	0.53 (0.36 to 0.64)	0.91 (0.84 to 0.96)	0.80 (0.70 to 0.87)
Intraoperative culture	0.71 (0.54 to 0.77)	0.96 (0.87 to 0.99)	0.91 (0.68 to 0.98)	0.86 (0.78 to 0.89)	0.88 (0.75 to 0.92)
Synovial fluid cell count with differential	0.71 (0.53 to 0.77)	0.98 (0.93 to 1.00)	0.91 (0.68 to 0.98)	0.93 (0.88 to 0.94)	0.92 (0.84 to 0.95)

^*On the basis of the analysis of the sixty-four clinical samples, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of the detection of infection with use of rRNA RT-qPCR were calculated. In addition, the same values were calculated with the use of C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, intraoperative culture, and synovial fluid cell count with differential as diagnostic tools. For the purposes of analysis, all clearly positive and indeterminate samples were analyzed as being infected, giving a prevalence of 22%. Values are given as the mean, with the range in parentheses.