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Diagnosis of smear-negative tuberculosis is greatly improved by Xpert MTB/RIF.


ABSTRACT:

Background

Diagnosis of pulmonary (PTB) and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) in smear-negative patients can be difficult. We assessed retrospectively the performance of Xpert MTB/RIF system (Xpert, Cepheid) in diagnosing smear-negative tuberculosis (TB), which represents the most common form of TB in a low incidence setting.

Methods

Performance of Xpert was compared to acid-fast microscopic examination using Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain in patients with culture-confirmed TB.

Results

386 Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) culture-positive samples were detected out of 5170 specimens tested with smear microscopy, Xpert and culture: 323 were both culture- and Xpert-positive, and 63 culture-positive only. Of these, 234 (60.6%) were smear-negative. In addition Xpert detected 40 probable TB cases, based on clinical findings, which were culture-negative. Compared to culture, Xpert showed an overall sensitivity of 83.7% and a specificity of 99.1%; sensitivity was higher for respiratory samples (86.5%) than for non-respiratory samples (76.8%). Xpert sensitivity for smear-negative culture-confirmed TB was 73.1% and was not influenced by TB localization. As sensitivity of microscopy alone was poor (39.4%), Xpert improved both diagnosis of pulmonary TB (? = 36.5%) and extra-pulmonary TB (? = 63.4%).

Conclusions

Xpert MTB/RIF is a sensitive method for rapid diagnosis of TB compared to the conventional ZN staining. Xpert can serve as a sensitive and time-saving diagnostic method for microbiological diagnosis of smear-negative TB in countries with a low TB prevalence.

SUBMITTER: Lombardi G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5400262 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Diagnosis of smear-negative tuberculosis is greatly improved by Xpert MTB/RIF.

Lombardi Giulia G   Di Gregori Valentina V   Girometti Nicolò N   Tadolini Marina M   Bisognin Francesco F   Dal Monte Paola P  

PloS one 20170421 4


<h4>Background</h4>Diagnosis of pulmonary (PTB) and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) in smear-negative patients can be difficult. We assessed retrospectively the performance of Xpert MTB/RIF system (Xpert, Cepheid) in diagnosing smear-negative tuberculosis (TB), which represents the most common form of TB in a low incidence setting.<h4>Methods</h4>Performance of Xpert was compared to acid-fast microscopic examination using Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain in patients with culture-confirmed TB.<h4>Res  ...[more]

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