Diagnostic Performance of Universal Transport Medium for Viral Polymerase Chain Reaction in Aqueous Humor Samples of Suspected Viral Uveitis: A Pilot Methods Study

We investigated the diagnostic efficacy of the universal transport medium™ (UTM^®) as a transport medium for aqueous humor polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in patients with clinically suspected viral uveitis. This retrospective study included 31 patients (31 eyes) with presumed viral uveitis who underwent anterior chamber sampling and compared the viral detection rates between using UTM^® and conventional test tubes only. The positivity rate for any virus, including cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, and varicella zoster virus, was significantly higher in the UTM^T® group than in the test tube group (64.3% vs. 23.5%, <i>p</i> = 0.033). Logistic regression analysis also revealed that the use of UTM^® significantly increased the PCR positivity rate (odds ratio, 5.850; 95% confidence interval, 1.222-27.994; <i>p</i> = 0.027). Thus, the use of UTM^® was associated with improved detection of causative pathogens in patients with presumed viral uveitis.