Search

Objective Microbiological confirmation of tuberculosis (TB) in pediatric cases is challenging due to its paucibacillary nature and difficulty in specimen collection. This study aimed to validate stool as an alternative sample for the diagnosis of pediatric pulmonary TB via Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) assay.

Objective Microbiological confirmation of tuberculosis (TB) in pediatric cases is challenging due to its paucibacillary nature and difficulty in specimen collection. This study aimed to validate stool as an alternative sample for the diagnosis of pediatric pulmonary TB via Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) assay. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study included 75 pediatric patients up to 10 years of age with signs and symptoms suggestive of TB. From each recruited patient, pulmonary and stool samples were collected in a sterile container. The collected samples were subjected to Ziehl-Neelsen staining, BACTEC MGIT 960 culture (MGIT), Xpert, and in-house multiplex polymerase chain reaction for TB diagnosis. Results About 13.33% (10/75) of the pulmonary samples and, of them, 50% (5/75) of the stool samples were positive by Xpert assay. The sensitivity and specificity of Xpert assay with stool and pulmonary samples were 50 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 18.71–81.29%) and 100% (95% CI: 94.48–100%), respectively. Conclusion The Xpert assay on stool samples showed limited sensitivity and good specificity in the diagnosis of pulmonary TB. Therefore, it can be proposed as an alternative screening sample to diagnose TB in pediatric cases for which getting a respiratory sample is extremely difficult. However, further studies with greater number of samples and multiple baseline variables are required to support our findings. Strategies to optimize stool Xpert assay should be performed to enhance the sensitivity of this method to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) sufferers in Indonesia have dramatically increased from 1997 to 2014. The cases of pediatric pulmonary TB in Indonesia was firstly discovered in 2013, namely at the age of

Objective: To determine the utility of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for diagnosing pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis (PPTB). Method: A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out on 100 children less than 14 years of age, with strong clinical suspicion and radiological evidence suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Sputum samples/gastric lavage were collected. Direct smears and culture on Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) media were performed. DNA extraction and amplification was performed using Genei™ Amplification Reagent set for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) (by Genei, Bangalore, India). This test is based on the principle of single-tube nested PCR which amplifies the repetitive insertion sequence IS6110. Results: When compared with culture, sensitivity and specificity of PCR was 93.55% and 92.75%, respectively. The PPV was 85.29% and the NPV was 96.97%. When intention to treat (ITT) was used as the standard, sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of PCR was 47.88%, 93.1%, 94.4%, and 42.19%, respectively, and that of culture was 40.85%, 100%, 100% and 40.85%, respectively. Against response to treatment (RTT), PCR demonstrated sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of 50.9%, 93.1%, 93.33% and 50%, respectively, and for culture it was 43.64%, 100%, 100% and 48.33%, respectively. Conclusion/recommendation: The present study reinforces better case detection rate with PCR-based nucleic acid amplification test as compared with microscopy and culture in pediatric pulmonary TB. PCR showed a higher correlation with clinical diagnosis as compared with microscopy and solid culture. Hence, a molecular platform should be the test of choice for detecting PPTB.

Background and Objective: Global TB report 2021 mentions 11 % prevalence of pediatric TB, whereas 5.65% of the cases were reported from India in 2020. India features in the list of TB high burden countries, HIV-TB high burden and MDR-TB high burden countries. The diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in children is difficult as they tend to swallow the sputum, invasive techniques of gastric aspirates needs to be followed and the disease itself is paucibacillary. The disease progresses rapidly in young children and hence rapid diagnosis is needed. Obtaining appropriate respiratory samples for diagnosis is difficult especially in primary care settings. Stool sample is easy to obtain and since children swallow sputum, it can be used to diagnose pulmonary tuberculosis. With this background, a pilot study was planned to evaluate the accuracy of the Xpert MTB/RIF assay for the detection of MTB in stool specimens obtained from pediatric pulmonary TB patients confirmed either by gastric lavage(GL) or sputum(SP) Xpert MTB/RIF assay. In addition, the results of microscopy of stool specimen were compared with that of gastric lavage/ sputum (GL/SP) specimen by Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) and fluorescent light-emitting diode (LED) staining., Material and Methods: A prospective study was carried out on 50 GL/SP Xpert MTB/RIF assay positive children (0-14 years). Stool specimens from these children were processed for Xpert MTB/RIF assay. The GL/SP and stool specimens were processed for ZN and Auramine O fluorescent microscopy as well., Results: Fluorescent staining detected acid fast bacilli (AFB) in 24 GL/SP and 16 stool specimens as compared to 20 GL/SP and 10 stool specimens by ZN staining. Stool Xpert MTB/ RIF assay was positive in 29 out of 50 children. Rifampicin resistance was detected in 13 of the 50 (26%) GL/SP specimens. Of these 13 children, rifampicin resistance was detected in 7 stool specimens, rifampicin indeterminate resistance was detected in one specimen and in the remaining 5 children, M.tuberculosis was not detected in stool., Conclusion: Stool is a good non-invasive specimen for the detection of pulmonary TB in children, especially in remote areas, where invasive techniques cannot be performed for sample collection., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors have none to declare., (Copyright © 2023 Tuberculosis Association of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective To determine the utility of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for diagnosing pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis (PPTB). Method A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out on 100 children less than 14 years of age, with strong clinical suspicion and radiological evidence suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Sputum samples/gastric lavage were collected. Direct smears and culture on Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) media were performed. DNA extraction and amplification was performed using Genei™ Amplification Reagent set for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) (by Genei, Bangalore, India). This test is based on the principle of single-tube nested PCR which amplifies the repetitive insertion sequence IS6110. Results When compared with culture, sensitivity and specificity of PCR was 93.55% and 92.75%, respectively. The PPV was 85.29% and the NPV was 96.97%. When intention to treat (ITT) was used as the standard, sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of PCR was 47.88%, 93.1%, 94.4%, and 42.19%, respectively, and that of culture was 40.85%, 100%, 100% and 40.85%, respectively. Against response to treatment (RTT), PCR demonstrated sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of 50.9%, 93.1%, 93.33% and 50%, respectively, and for culture it was 43.64%, 100%, 100% and 48.33%, respectively. Conclusion/recommendation The present study reinforces better case detection rate with PCR-based nucleic acid amplification test as compared with microscopy and culture in pediatric pulmonary TB. PCR showed a higher correlation with clinical diagnosis as compared with microscopy and solid culture. Hence, a molecular platform should be the test of choice for detecting PPTB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective  Microbiological confirmation of tuberculosis (TB) in pediatric cases is challenging due to its paucibacillary nature and difficulty in specimen collection. This study aimed to validate stool as an alternative sample for the diagnosis of pediatric pulmonary TB via Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) assay. Materials and Methods  This cross-sectional study included 75 pediatric patients up to 10 years of age with signs and symptoms suggestive of TB. From each recruited patient, pulmonary and stool samples were collected in a sterile container. The collected samples were subjected to Ziehl-Neelsen staining, BACTEC MGIT 960 culture (MGIT), Xpert, and in-house multiplex polymerase chain reaction for TB diagnosis. Results  About 13.33% (10/75) of the pulmonary samples and, of them, 50% (5/75) of the stool samples were positive by Xpert assay. The sensitivity and specificity of Xpert assay with stool and pulmonary samples were 50 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 18.71-81.29%) and 100% (95% CI: 94.48-100%), respectively. Conclusion  The Xpert assay on stool samples showed limited sensitivity and good specificity in the diagnosis of pulmonary TB. Therefore, it can be proposed as an alternative screening sample to diagnose TB in pediatric cases for which getting a respiratory sample is extremely difficult. However, further studies with greater number of samples and multiple baseline variables are required to support our findings. Strategies to optimize stool Xpert assay should be performed to enhance the sensitivity of this method to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in children., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest None declared., (The Indian Association of Laboratory Physicians. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).)

Introduction: Chest ultrasound is increasingly used to radiologically diagnose childhood pneumonia, but there are limited data on its use for pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB)., Aim: Compare chest ultrasound with a chest X-ray (CXR) findings., Methods: Children (up to 13 years) with suspected PTB were enrolled. Bedside chest ultrasound findings were compared to CXR. The analysis was stratified by PTB category: confirmed PTB (microbiologically confirmed), unconfirmed PTB (clinical diagnosis with negative microbiological tests), or unlikely PTB (other respiratory diseases with improvement without tuberculosis treatment)., Results: One hundred fifty-nine children were enrolled (57% boys, median age 26.6 months [interquartile range 15.1-59.3]). Ultrasound detected abnormalities in 72% (n = 114), CXR in 56% (n = 89), P < .001. Pleural effusion was detected on ultrasound in 15% (n = 24) compared 9% (n = 14) on CXR, P = .004, more in confirmed PTB (33%, n = 12 vs 8%, n = 4 unlikely PTB, P = .013). Ultrasound detected enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes more commonly (22%, n = 25) than CXR (6%, n = 10, P = .001); the size of lymph nodes in the unlikely category (1.0 cm) was smaller than the other two PTB categories (1.4 and 1.5 cm, P = .001). Inter-reader agreement (kappa Cohen) was higher for ultrasound than CXR for several findings (consolidation 0.67 vs 0.47, pleural effusion 0.86 vs 0.56, enlarged lymph nodes 0.56 vs 0.27)., Conclusion: Ultrasound detected abnormalities more frequently than CXR with the higher inter-reader agreement; ultrasound abnormalities were most common in children with confirmed PTB. Ultrasound is a promising modality for detecting abnormalities in PTB. Further studies should evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound against a gold standard., (© 2019 The Authors. Pediatric Pulmonology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The retrospective study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of bronchial brushing and sputum using acid fast bacilli smear, mycobacterial culture and real-time PCR in detection of pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis, sensitivity and specificity of bronchial brushing and sputum examined by the three methods were calculated and compared to each other. Data showed there were no significant difference in sensitivity between bronchial brushing and matched sputum using each method. But the specificity of real-time PCR on bronchial brushing was lower than on sputum. Compared with bronchial brushing, sputum was better specimen in detection of pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Chest ultrasound is increasingly used for the diagnosis of pediatric lung disease but there are limited data for its use in pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB)., Aim: To describe chest ultrasound findings in children with suspected PTB., Methods: Consecutive children, presenting with suspected PTB to a tertiary children's hospital in Cape Town between July 2014 and March 2016, were enrolled in this cohort study. Children were categorized into three groups based on microbiological and clinical features; confirmed PTB (microbiologically confirmed), unconfirmed PTB (clinical diagnosis only), and unlikely PTB (respiratory disease not due to PTB). A clinician, blinded to categorization, performed chest and mediastinal ultrasound for consolidation, pleural gaps, pleural effusions, B-lines or enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes at enrolment and 1, 3, and 6 months thereafter. Two readers interpreted the ultrasounds independently., Results: One hundred seventy children (median age 26.6 months) were enrolled; 40 (24%) confirmed PTB, 85 (50%) unconfirmed PTB, and 45 (26%) unlikely PTB. In children with confirmed PTB, pleural effusion was more common (30% vs 9% in unlikely PTB, P = 0.024), mediastinal lymph nodes were larger (median size 1.5 cm vs 1.0 cm in unlikely PTB, P = 0.027), resolution of consolidation occurred less commonly at 1-month follow-up (24% vs 67% unlikely TB, P = 0.014) and the proportional size reduction of a consolidation was lower (44% vs 80% in unlikely PTB, P = 0.009). Inter-reader agreement was perfect to moderate., Conclusion: Chest ultrasound identified abnormalities suggestive of PTB with a high inter-reader agreement. Consolidation showed slower resolution in children with confirmed PTB., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)