European Journal of Inflammation (Jan 2010)

Usefulness of Ifn-Gamma Release Assays in Clinical Management of Difficult TB Cases: Evidence from Clinical Practice

  • M. Bocchino,
  • A. Matarese,
  • B. Bellofiore,
  • P. Giacomelli,
  • A. Russo,
  • G. Signoriello,
  • D. Galati,
  • A. Sanduzzi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/1721727X1000800107
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8

Abstract

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Performance of T-SPOT.TB™ (TS-TB) and QuantiFERON TB Gold- In tube (QFT-IT) assays was evaluated for detection of M. tuberculosis (Mtb) infection in patients with suspected extra-pulmonary or smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in a low prevalence country. Twenty-one out of 35 patients were affected by active TB. Mtb culture isolation was achieved in 76% of cases. Tuberculin skin testing (TST), TS-TB, and QFT-IT yielded a positive result in 67%, 95% and 81% of cases, respectively. Agreement of interferon-γ release assays and TST was 70% (κ=0.18 for TS-TB; κ=0.46 for QFT-IT). Increased sensitivity of blood assays (>80%) improved diagnostic evaluation of difficult TB cases.