Open AccessGeneXpert on patients with human immunodeficiency virus and smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis
Author(s) -
Nguyen Kim Cuong,
Bao-Ngoc Nguyen,
Nguyen Binh Hoa,
Vu Quoc Dat,
Nguyen Viet Nhung
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0253961
Subject(s) - medicine , genexpert mtb/rif , tuberculosis , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , pulmonary tuberculosis , confidence interval , drug resistance , virology , mycobacterium tuberculosis , rifampicin , pathology , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
Objectives Vietnam is a high-prevalence country for tuberculosis (TB). Xpert MTB/RIF is a novel PCR-based diagnostic test that is substantially more sensitive for detecting M . tuberculosis than traditional smear-based techniques. However, locally-derived evidence of Xpert MTB/RIF in HIV-infected people is limited. This study evaluates the performance of the Xpert MTB/RIF in HIV-infected patients with smear-negative pulmonary TB (SNTB). Methods This was a cross-sectional study in 3 hospitals. The performance of Xpert MTB/RIF was compared with the reference standard of liquid culture and phenotypic drug-susceptibility testing for rifampicin (RIF) resistance. Results Out of 123 patients, the median age was 37.0 (IQR: 32.0–41.0) and 81.3% were male. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of Xpert MTB/RIF for pulmonary TB diagnosis were 0.72 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.63–0.81), 66.7% (95%CI: 54.8–77.1) and 77.1% (95%CI: 62.7–88.0), respectively, while Se and Sp of Xpert MTB/RIF in detecting RIF resistance were 50.0 (11.8–88.2) and 86.4% (95%CI: 72.7–94.8). Conclusion The performance of Xpert MTB/RIF in HIV-infected patients with SNTB for the diagnosis of TB and RIF-resistance was low. Further studies are required to evaluate the results of Xpert MTB/RIF assay in HIV-infected patients with SNTB and the role of Xpert repetition on the same specimens.