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. 2015 Jan;20(1):26-31.

Rapid diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis by Xpert MTB/RIF assay using pleural biopsy and pleural fluid specimens

Jinghui Du  1 , Zikun Huang  2 , Qing Luo  2 , Guoliang Xiong  3 , Xiaomeng Xu  2 , Weiting Li  2 , Xu Liu  1 , Junming Li  2
Affiliations

Rapid diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis by Xpert MTB/RIF assay using pleural biopsy and pleural fluid specimens

Jinghui Du et al. J Res Med Sci. 2015 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Early pleural tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis is particularly difficult. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of the Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA) assay using pleural biopsy and pleural fluid specimens in patients with suspected pleural TB but who had a negative sputum acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear.

Materials and methods: In this study, 134 sputum smear-negative suspected pleural TB patients were selected. Paired pleural fluid and pleural biopsy specimens were tested for Mycobacterium tuberculosis by standard smear-microscopy, Lowenstein-Jensen and mycobacterial growth indicator tube (MGIT) culture, and the Xpert assay. Mycobacterial culture from pleural biopsy specimens was used as a reference standard for sensitivity and specificity calculations. Detection of rifampicin resistance was compared with the MGIT method.

Results: Of 126 evaluable patients, 55 received a diagnosis of pleural TB. The sensitivity of the Xpert assay using pleural biopsy specimens for the diagnosis of pleural TB was 85.5%, and specificity was 97.2%. The sensitivity and specificity of the Xpert assay in pleural fluid were 43.6% and 98.6%, respectively. The Xpert assay correctly identified 90.0% of phenotypic rifampicin-resistant cases and 93.9% of phenotypic rifampicin-susceptible cases.

Conclusion: The Xpert assay on pleural biopsy specimens may provide an accurate diagnosis of pleural TB in patients who had a negative AFB smear.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Xpert MTB/RIF assay; pleural tuberculosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient enrollment flow diagram showing the number of patients enrolled and analysed: TB = Tuberculosis; LJ = Lowenstein-Jensen
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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