Xpert MTB/RIF for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

摘要

Tuberculosis is a leading cause of mortality in HIV populations worldwide with almost 2 million deaths every year;1 however, laboratory diagnostic techniques for tuberculosis have many well described limitations.2 In developing countries, smear microscopy is the most used technique but has variable sensitivity (30-80%) in adult populations.3 Culture methods are slow, complex, need specific infrastructure, and are not available in all developing countries. In children, diagnosis is even more difficult. Diagnosis is usually based on clinical symptoms, epidemiology, and chest radiography. Furthermore, sputum is difficult to collect especially in children aged younger than 5 years in whom smear microscopy trends to be paucibacillary.