Rapid diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis by ligase chain reaction amplification.
A total of 87 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples obtained from 85 patients with suspected meningitis were examined for the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by means of ligase chain reaction amplification (LCx; Abbott Laboratories). The results were compared with direct smear and culture results. Of 61 patients with pathological CSF, 9 (14.8%) were scheduled to receive treatment for tuberculous meningitis. The sensitivity of the smear and culture tests was 11.1 and 33.3%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the LCx assay were 55.5, 100, 100 and 92.9%, respectively. The results reveal that amplification by ligase chain reaction is valuable for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis.
Rajo
M C
MC
Servicio de Microbiologia, Hospital Clinico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, Spain. mrajo@latinmail.com
Pérez Del Molina
M L
ML
Lado Lado
F L
FL
López
M J
MJ
Prieto
E
E
Pardo
F
F
D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D022521:Ligase Chain Reaction; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014390:Tuberculosis, Meningeal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology