Clinical evaluation of metagenomic next-generation sequencing method for the diagnosis of suspected ascitic infection in patients with liver cirrhosis in a clinical laboratory

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), mostly carried out in independent clinical laboratories, has been increasingly applied in clinical pathogen diagnosis. This project aimed to explore the feasibility of mNGS in clinical laboratories and analyze its potential in the diagnosis of infectious ascites. Two reference panels composed of 12 strains commonly appeared in peritonitis were constructed to evaluate the performance metrics based on in-house mNGS protocols. The mNGS clinical detection value was analyzed in 211 ascitic samples and compared with culture and composite standards. Finally, eight patients with cirrhosis were prospectively enrolled to verify the clinical value of mNGS in peritoneal infection diagnosis.