Comparison of performance in two diagnostic methods for tuberculosis infection.
Performance of two diagnoses, T-SPOT.TB (T-SPOT) and QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G), was compared in Japanese subjects. Forty-seven confirmed tuberculosis patients and eighty-four healthy subjects were recruited. All samples were assessed for both T-SPOT and QFT-G, and the sensitivities and the specificities were compared between two methods. The sensitivity was 100% for T-SPOT, and 87.2% for QFT-G. The specificity was 83.3 and 98.8%, respectively. The overall agreement of two tests was substantially high (Kappa coefficient = 0.671). The sensitivity of T-SPOT appeared to be higher than that of QFT-G, whereas the specificity of T-SPOT was significantly lower than that of QFT-G. The difference in the performance between T-SPOT and QFT-G and biological relevance of each system in diagnosing M. tuberculosis infection should be further explored.
Higuchi
Kazue
K
The Research Institute of Tuberculosis, Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association, Kiyose, Tokyo, Japan. higuchi@jata.or.jp
Kawabe
Yoshiko
Y
Mitarai
Satoshi
S
Yoshiyama
Takashi
T
Harada
Nobuyuki
N
Mori
Toru
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D055815:Young Adult
D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic