[Utility of polymerase chain reaction for diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion].
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis was done on 14 pleural fluid samples. Eight samples were from patients with pleural effusions suspected to be tuberculous that were smear-negative and culture-negative for acid-fast bacilli, and six samples were from patients with malignant effusions. The DNA extracted from samples was amplified with two different pairs of primers of the 123-bp and the 383-bp target DNAs of the bacilli. Mycobacterial DNA was detected in all eight samples of effusions suspected to be tuberculous, but it was not detected in any malignant effusions. We conclude that PCR assay may be useful for the rapid diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusions that are smear-negative and culture-negative.
Hayashi
M
M
First Department of Medicine, Tokyo Women's Medical College, Japan.
Nagai
A
A
Kobayashi
K
K
Sawai
T
T
Konno
K
K
D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016066:Pleural Effusion, Malignant / Q000175:diagnosis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014396:Tuberculosis, Pleural / Q000175:diagnosis*
D004269:DNA, Bacterial