by Chieh-Mo Lin, Shu-Min Lin, Fu-Tsai Chung, Horng-Chyuan Lin, Kang-Yun Lee, Chien-Da Huang, Chih-Hsi Kuo, Chien-Ying Liu, Chun-Hua Wang, Han-Pin Kuo
Background The study was designed to investigate the clinical usefulness of Amplified Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Direct (AMTD) tests for diagnosing TB pleurisy.
Methods One hundred and fifty-two patients for whom the exclusion of tuberculous pleural effusion was necessary were retrospectively analyzed.
Results The sensitivity of AMTD in diagnosing pleural TB was 36.4% (20 of 55). Combining sputum and pleural effusion AFB smear, pleural biopsy, and AMTD test of pleural effusion increased sensitivity to 82.5% (33/40). There were significantly higher percentages of neutrophils in the pleural effusion in the positive than in the negative AMTD group (38.0±6.7% vs. 11.1±3.7%, p<0.001). Patients with symptom duration <18 days prior to pleural effusion studies had more positive AMTD tests than those with symptom >18 days (70% vs. 31.4%; OR 5.09; 95% CI 1.54–16.79; p?=?0.011).
Conclusions Combining AMTD tests with conventional diagnostic methods offer good sensitivity for pleural TB diagnosis. Patients in the early course of the disease are better candidates for AMTD tests.
