Journal of Clinical and Experimental Investigations

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate diagnostic performance of FASTPlaqueTB^TM (FPTB) test and to compare with mycobacterial Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) culture and smear test.
Materials and methods: Respiratory samples were obtained from 60 patients with suspected tuberculosis and 20 control patients who had any diagnosis other than tuberculosis. One sample of case with suspected tuberculosis was excluded from the study due to contamination. All specimens were examined by smear, LJ culture and fast plaque test for Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Results: A total of 54 specimens of 59 patients with clinically and radiologic tuberculosis grew on LJ media and all the isolates were M. tuberculosis complex. M. tuberculosis was isolated by LJ culture from 42 smear-positive and 12 smear-negative specimens. Smear and LJ culture negative five cases were diagnosed as tuberculosis with clinical and radiologic findings. Fast plaque method determined M. tuberculosis in 36 (61%) specimens of 59 cases with tuberculosis. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and efficiency of prediction were calculated as 61%, 100%, 100%, 46% and 0,70 respectively in all cases. We found the performance of fast plaque test with a high (73,8%) sensitivity in smear-positive cases and low sensitivity (29,4%) in smear-negatives.
Conclusion: Fast plaque assay is not a preferable diagnostic test to LJ culture or smear in M. Tuberculosis and It may be used for a rapid detection of pulmonary tuberculosis.