title: PCR targeting IS6110 in diagnosing tuberculosis in children in comparison to MGIT culture.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in children is difficult in children especially in extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB). This study was conducted to evaluate the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting IS6110 in the diagnosis of TB in children with pulmonary TB and EPTB and also to compare its performance with MGIT 960 culture and conventional microscopy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 142 cases (50 pulmonary, 92 extrapulmonary) of suspected TB patients <15 years of age were included in the study. The clinical specimens obtained from these cases were subjected to Ziehl-Neelsen staining (ZN), MGIT 960 TB culture and PCR targeting insertion sequence IS6110. Sensitivity and specificity of PCR were calculated in pulmonary and extrapulmonary specimens. The results were compared to MGIT culture.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PCR targeting IS6110 sequence had sensitivity of 69.01% in various clinical specimens which was significantly more than MGIT culture showing a sensitivity of 47.41% (p<0.05). Sensitivity of PCR IS6110 in extrapulmonary specimens was 65.21% which was lower than sensitivity in pulmonary specimens (76%) but was not statistically significant (p>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Diagnostic efficacy of PCR IS6110 in pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB cases was similar. PCR using IS6110 primer had significantly better efficiency than MGIT culture in diagnosing TB in children.
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Department of Pediatrics, Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Agra, India.
authors.forename: Rajeshwar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dayal
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Agra, India. Electronic address: drdiptiagarwal@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: Dipti
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.affiliation: Resident, Department of Pediatrics, Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Agra, India.
authors.forename: Harish
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pathak
authors.affiliation: Resident, Department of Pediatrics, Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Agra, India.
authors.forename: Shehraj
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feroz
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Agra, India.
authors.forename: Manoj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Scientist D, National JALMA Institute for Leprosy & Other Mycobacterial Diseases (ICMR), India.
authors.forename: Devendra S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Chauhan
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Agra, India.
authors.forename: Rakesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhatia
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional / Q000235:genetics*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: Children; Diagnosis; MGIT; PCR IS6110; Tuberculosis