Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2014 Jul;18(7):876-8.
doi: 10.5588/ijtld.13.0853.

False-positive Xpert® MTB/RIF assays in previously treated patients: need for caution in interpreting results

T H Boyles  1 , J Hughes  2 , V Cox  2 , R Burton  3 , G Meintjes  4 , M Mendelson  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

False-positive Xpert® MTB/RIF assays in previously treated patients: need for caution in interpreting results

T H Boyles et al. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2014 Jul.

Abstract

Xpert(®) MTB/RIF is the initial diagnostic test of choice for tuberculosis (TB). It is not known if false-positive results are more common in previously treated patients. We report four patients with successful treatment for TB up to 5 years previously who presented with respiratory tract infection and were Xpert-positive, but had negative TB cultures and clinical improvement without anti-tuberculosis treatment. We hypothesise that the Xpert results were false-positive due to the presence of dead Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli in lungs and sputum. Further work is required to determine the specificity of Xpert in previously treated patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources