Polymerase chain reaction of peripheral blood as a tool for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis in children.
The diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) generally requires the use of invasive tests for the collection of infected tissue (aspirates of bone marrow, spleen, liver or lymph nodes). This difficulty has led to the search for safer and less painful techniques to confirm the occurrence of the disease in children. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method that is advantageous in that it allows the use of peripheral blood samples for diagnosis. This paper reports the utilisation of PCR on peripheral blood samples to diagnose VL in 45 children in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. This technique is compared with methods carried out using tissue collected by invasive procedures, including direct microscopy, culture and detection of Leishmania DNA by PCR in bone marrow aspirates. The results show that PCR of peripheral blood provides great sensitivity (95.6%) that is similar to that from the PCR of bone marrow aspirates (91.1%) and higher than that achieved with microscopy (80%) or culture (26.7%) methods. PCR of peripheral blood proved to be a suitable tool for the diagnosis of VL in children because it is highly sensitive and safe, with tissue collection being less invasive than in traditional tests.
Departamento de Patologia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. thiagofragavet@yahoo.com.br
Thiago Leite
TL
Fraga
Yvone Maia
YM
Brustoloni
Rosimar Baptista
RB
Lima
Maria Elizabeth Cavalheiros
ME
Dorval
Elisa Teruya
ET
Oshiro
Janaina
J
Oliveira
Ana Lúcia Lyrio de
AL
Oliveira
Claude
C
Pirmez
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity