National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692 Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most devastating complication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Diagnosis of TBM is challenging in young children due to the paucibacillary nature of disease. Microscopy for acid-fast bacilli in CSF is fast but has very low sensitivity whereas culture may take up to 42 days. Due to the urgency of diagnosis in suspected TBM cases, a rapid, accurate diagnostic test could have a great impact on survival. Aims of the study are to prospectively determine the diagnostic accuracy of Xpert MTB/RIF in a large consecutive series of samples from patients presenting with suspected Tuberculous meningitis. In this prospective hospital-based study, 147 children presenting with suspected tuberculous meningitis from May 2017 to February 2018 were included. Cerebrospinal fluid samples were tested by Ziehl-Neelsen smear, mycobacterial culture on Lowenstein Jensen medium, and Xpert MTB/RIF assay. Kappa statistics (K) was used to determine agreement beyond what would be expected by chance between smear microscopy and Gene Xpert assay results. Out of a total of 147 CSF samples tested, 10 (6.8%) were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Xpert MTB/RIF assay. Out of these 10 samples, only one showed AFB on ZN smear. Culture was negative for all the 147 CSF samples. The MTB/RIF test has a short turnaround time and simultaneously detects M. tuberculosis and RIF resistance in less than 2h. It could be a useful tool for rapid identification of M. tuberculosis, especially in smear-negative clinical samples.
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