A Comparative Study of Cartridge-based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test and ZiehlÂ-Neelsen Stain with Culture on LowensteinÂ-Jensen Media as Gold Standard for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
Citation Information :
Roy RD, Gupta SD. A Comparative Study of Cartridge-based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test and ZiehlÂ-Neelsen Stain with Culture on LowensteinÂ-Jensen Media as Gold Standard for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Indian J Respir Care 2022; 11 (1):39-42.
Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis that usually affects the lungs, leading to fever, cough, and chest pain. Although a declining trend was observed in most developed countries, TB remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in many developing countries, including India.
Materials and Methods: This prospective study was carried out using 150 sputum samples of suspected pulmonary TB patients. All the samples were subjected to ZiehlÂ-Neelsen stain, cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) and culture on LowensteinÂ-Jensen (LJ) media. They were compared for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) in terms of quantitative results.
Results: CBNAAT results of the sputum samples showed a sensitivity of 100%, 88.7% specificity, 90.3% PPV, and NPV 94%, whereas culture on LJ media showed a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 68.3%, 100%, 100%, and 73.9%, respectively.
Conclusion: Whereas culture remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of TB, CBNAAT has taken over the domain of diagnosis owing to its high sensitivity and rapid turn over time.
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