Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis: Rapid Identification of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and Simultaneous Detection of Rifampicin Resistance by Genexpert Assay.

Purpose: The Major limitation in diagnosis of extra pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is the lack of diagnostic tests that are accurate, simple to use and can be applied at the point of clinical care. This has been further enhanced by the widespread inability to test for drug resistance. Gene Xpert® MTB/RIF test is a novel test for the diagnosis of extrapulmonary TB and rifampicin resistance. Method: Total 388 EP samples were processed by GeneXpert. Liquid culture was performed from all Rifampicin resistant M. tuberculosis positive samples. Further liquid DST of Levofloxacin and Kanamycin were performed by MGIT 960 from culture positive isolates. Result: Out of 388 EP samples 151were detected positive by GeneXpert Among 151 samples rifampicin resistance was present in 19 & 2 were rifampicin indeterminate. 2 Rifampicin indeterminate samples were confirmed as resistant by liquid culture and DST. Out of 21, 15 samples turned to be culture positive. Among this 15 culture positive samples 93% were sensitive to Kanamycin and 80% were sensitive to Levofloxacin Conclusion: The GeneXpert is a sensitive and specific test for rapid diagnosis of EPTB and simultaneous rifampicin resistance in patients with strong clinical suspicion of TB with negative smear result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]