title: Rapid diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis by mycobacteriophage assay.
abstract: We evaluated FASTPlaqueTB, a recently introduced bacteriophage assay for rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in sputum specimens, using 169 non-duplicate sputum specimens from patients suspected of pulmonary tuberculosis. The results of 160 specimens were analysed. FASTPlaqueTB assay detected tuberculosis in 77% (46/60) of culture-positive cases. Among the AFB smear-positive cases (n = 47) it had a sensitivity of 76% and specificity of 60% while among AFB smear-negative cases (n = 113) its sensitivity and specificity were 78% and 98%, respectively. The overall sensitivity and specificity of the technique were 77% and 96%, respectively, and the positive and negative predictive values were respectively 92% and 87%. The overall efficiency of the test was 89%. Test results were available in 48 h.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. tariqbutt24@yahoo.com
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Butt
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kazmi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahmood
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D006801:Humans; D009160:Mycobacteriophages; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000821:virology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis*