Comparative Diagnostic Utility of IS6110 PCR Assay in CSF and Peripheral Blood Samples of Tuberculous Meningitis Patients: A Pilot Study from Central India

摘要

IntroductionTuberculous Meningitis (TBM) is the most severe form of Central Nervous System Tuberculosis (CNS-TB) and constitutes about 6% of all Extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) cases. Most guidelines for the diagnosis and management of TBM agree on the use of simple Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) analysis using molecular tools like Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). However, the sensitivity of PCR varies while using a CSF sample. In the present study, we have compared the diagnostic utility of PCR assay in both peripheral blood and CSF sample collected from TBM cases.