Combination of molecular assay and clinical evaluation for early confirmation of tuberculosis cases

H-Z Tu; Y-S Chen; Y E Lin; M-R Tseng; T-S Huang; H-C Tsai; Y-C Liu

doi:10.1111/j.1469-0691.2010.03309.x

Combination of molecular assay and clinical evaluation for early confirmation of tuberculosis cases

Clin Microbiol Infect. 2011 May;17(5):712-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2010.03309.x.

Authors

H-Z Tu¹, Y-S Chen, Y E Lin, M-R Tseng, T-S Huang, H-C Tsai, Y-C Liu

Affiliation

¹ Department of Microbiology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

PMID: 20636424
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2010.03309.x

Abstract

The cost-effectiveness of the ProbeTec ET Direct TB assay (DTB) was compared with that of culture for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in 361 acid-fast stain-positive respiratory specimens. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of DTB were 97.7%, 86.6%, 87.2% and 97.6%, respectively. When clinical evaluation was added to DTB, the specificity and positive predictive value of DTB increased to 94.7% and 95.4%, respectively. Treatment costs of $133,521 would have been saved in this cohort if DTB, instead of culture results, had been used to eliminate 'false-positive' smear results.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

False Positive Reactions
Humans
Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / economics*
Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / methods*
Mycobacterium tuberculosis / genetics*
Mycobacterium tuberculosis / isolation & purification
Reagent Kits, Diagnostic / economics*
Tuberculosis / diagnosis*
Tuberculosis / drug therapy
Tuberculosis / microbiology

Substances

Reagent Kits, Diagnostic