Utility of GeneXpert in the diagnosis, reliance on urine microscopy and clinical characteristics of genitourinary tuberculosis at a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: One-third of the world's population is infected with tuberculosis (TB) with new infection occurring every second. In humans, TB is primarily caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB). Genitourinary TB (GUTB) is still a major health problem in many developing countries including India and had been declared by the World Health Organisation as 'public health emergency' in 1993.

Materials and methods: This is a prospective study conducted at a tertiary care hospital involving 46 patients who presented with clinical feature suggestive of GUTB - urine specimens of these 46 patients were analysed for acid-fast bacilli (AFB), AFB culture, GeneXpert, and other relevant investigations were done to reach the diagnosis. Majority of patients were female (65.25%). This is especially relevant to rural and low socioeconomic areas in developing countries where women's health is worse than men's (in terms of nutrition); women's risk of disease may be increased. Most of our patients were above 30 years of age and exhibited nonspecific symptoms such as dysuria, haematuria and frequency. All patients were put on antitubercular drugs and followed as per the guidelines.

Conclusion: The sample size in the present study is small to arrive at a brisk inference, but it may safely be postulated that yield of detection for GeneXpert may be improved using multiple sampling, especially the early morning ones. It is also pertinent to mention here that GeneXpert may not be able to pick up mutant genomes.

Keywords: GeneXpert; Genitourinary tuberculosis; urine microscopy.