Abstract
BackgroundRapid and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is key to manage the disease and to control and prevent its transmission. Many established diagnostic methods suffer from low sensitivity or delay of timely results and are inadequate for rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in pulmonary and extra-pulmonary clinical samples. This study examined whether a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, with a turn-a-round time of 2 h, would prove effective for routine detection of MTB by clinical microbiology laboratories.MethodsA systematic literature search was performed for publications in any language on the detection of MTB in pathological samples by RT-PCR assay. The following sources were used MEDLINE via PubMed, EMBASE, BIOSIS Citation Index, Web of Science, SCOPUS, ISI Web of Knowledge and Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group Specialised Register, grey literature, World Health Organization and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention websites. Forty-six studies met set inclusion criteria. Generated pooled summary estimates (95% CIs) were calculated for overall accuracy and bivariate meta-regression model was used for meta-analysis.ResultsSummary estimates for pulmonary TB (31 studies) were as follows: sensitivity 0.82 (95% CI 0.81–0.83), specificity 0.99 (95% CI 0.99–0.99), positive likelihood ratio 43.00 (28.23–64.81), negative likelihood ratio 0.16 (0.12–0.20), diagnostic odds ratio 324.26 (95% CI 189.08–556.09) and area under curve 0.99. Summary estimates for extra-pulmonary TB (25 studies) were as follows: sensitivity 0.70 (95% CI 0.67–0.72), specificity 0.99 (95% CI 0.99–0.99), positive likelihood ratio 29.82 (17.86–49.78), negative likelihood ratio 0.33 (0.26–0.42), diagnostic odds ratio 125.20 (95% CI 65.75–238.36) and area under curve 0.96.ConclusionsRT-PCR assay demonstrated a high degree of sensitivity for pulmonary TB and good sensitivity for extra-pulmonary TB. It indicated a high degree of specificity for ruling in TB infection from sampling regimes. This was acceptable, but may better as a rule out add-on diagnostic test. RT-PCR assays demonstrate both a high degree of sensitivity in pulmonary samples and rapidity of detection of TB which is an important factor in achieving effective global control and for patient management in terms of initiating early and appropriate anti-tubercular therapy.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42015027534.
Highlights
Rapid and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is key to manage the disease and to control and prevent its transmission
Study characteristics Of the 6706 references that were identified initially, 1628 potentially relevant citations were selected based on relevance to the study topic
The review and meta-analysis included 35,380 (28,406 pulmonary TB (PTB) and 6974 extra-pulmonary TB (EPTB)) pathological samples obtained from 21 countries with high, moderate and low prevalence of TB
Summary
Rapid and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is key to manage the disease and to control and prevent its transmission. Many established diagnostic methods suffer from low sensitivity or delay of timely results and are inadequate for rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in pulmonary and extra-pulmonary clinical samples. Tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), is spread from person to person predominantly through an airborne route. It remains a major global health problem as it causes ill-health among millions of people. According to the World Health Organization in 2015, there were 10.4 million new cases of TB worldwide that resulted in 1.8 million deaths and over 95% were from low- and middle-income countries [4, 5]. In the UK, a total of 5758 TB cases were notified the by Public Health England in 2015 [6]
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