Utility of polymerase chain reaction using two probes for rapid diagnosis of tubercular pleuritis in comparison to conventional methods

摘要

We have used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with IS6110 and a new set of primers from an insertion elementudlike repetitive sequence, (TRC4) to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in pleural effusion samples from 50udpatients having pleuritis. The results of PCR were compared with the results of conventional methods likeudsmear, culture and adenosine deaminase activity. Thirty six specimens were positive and 14 were negative byudPCR. Among the 36 samples, 33 were from patients with clinical evidence of tuberculosis including response toudanti-tuberculosis therapy. Only six samples were positive by the gold standard which is culture, and three wereudpositive by smear. The measurement of adenosine deaminase activity classified 19 samples as positives. Theudoverall sensitivity and specificity of PCR was 100 and 85 per cent respectively. PCR using IS6110 and TRC4udprimers is a sensitive test as compared to conventional tests for detection of M. tuberculosis from pleural fluidudsamples of patients with tubercular pleuritis.