title: Assessment of possible tuberculous lymphadenopathy by PCR compared to non-molecular methods.
abstract: Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in India and other developing countries and has formed a lethal partnership with AIDS. It often presents a diagnostic challenge especially when clinical presentation is suggestive but bacteriological proof is lacking. The objective of this study was to compare the various diagnostic techniques in clinically suspected cases of tubercular lymph nodes and to find a suitable, cost-effective but sensitive and specific method for diagnosis. A total of 100 cases were recruited for the study. Fine needle aspiration cytology was done in all cases and the smears prepared were processed for Giemsa, Ziehl-Neelsen's, Kinyoun and Papanicolaou stains. Parts of the aspirated materials were assessed by fluorescent staining, culture and PCR. Seventy-four percent of aspirates were positive by fluorescent stain while only 22% were positive by culture. PCR could be performed in 55 cases, out of which 22 (40%) were positive. When compared to culture, the sensitivity and specificity of PCR were found to be 89.5% and 86.1%, respectively. Fluorescent stain was found to be the most sensitive (81.8%) of the conventional methods but showed poor specificity (28.2%). Interestingly, PCR detected 80% of smear-negative but culture-positive cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India 2Division of Molecular Oncology, Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology (ICMR), I-7, Sector 39, Noida - 201301, India 3Department of Microbiology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India.
authors.forename: Ruma
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pahwa
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India 2Division of Molecular Oncology, Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology (ICMR), I-7, Sector 39, Noida - 201301, India 3Department of Microbiology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India.
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hedau
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India 2Division of Molecular Oncology, Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology (ICMR), I-7, Sector 39, Noida - 201301, India 3Department of Microbiology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India.
authors.forename: Shyama
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India 2Division of Molecular Oncology, Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology (ICMR), I-7, Sector 39, Noida - 201301, India 3Department of Microbiology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India.
authors.forename: Neeraj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India 2Division of Molecular Oncology, Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology (ICMR), I-7, Sector 39, Noida - 201301, India 3Department of Microbiology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India.
authors.forename: Vivek M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India 2Division of Molecular Oncology, Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology (ICMR), I-7, Sector 39, Noida - 201301, India 3Department of Microbiology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India.
authors.forename: Neeta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India 2Division of Molecular Oncology, Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology (ICMR), I-7, Sector 39, Noida - 201301, India 3Department of Microbiology, Maulana Azad Medical College Campus, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110 002, India.
authors.forename: Bhudev C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Das
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003470:Culture Media; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014388:Tuberculosis, Lymph Node / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D004269:DNA, Bacterial