Advancing antimicrobial therapy: evaluating the ASTar (Q-linea) System for rapid AST in Gram-negative bloodstream infections

Delays in antimicrobial susceptibility testing for Gram-negative bloodstream infections prolong empiric broad-spectrum therapy and can worsen clinical outcomes. This study presents data on the analytical performance, turnaround time, and potential clinical impact of the ASTar System for rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Gram-negative bloodstream infections. The comparison of ASTar results with a Standard-of-Care method offers data to support clinical laboratories in assessing rapid phenotypic AST platforms, such as ASTar, their role in antimicrobial stewardship, and possible workflow adjustments for faster, targeted therapy in the management of Gram-negative bloodstream infections.