Interferon-Gamma Release Assay is Not Appropriate for the Diagnosis of Active Tuberculosis in High-Burden Tuberculosis Settings: A Retrospective Multicenter Investigation.

Background: Interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) has been used in latent tuberculosis (TB) infection and TB diagnosis, but the results from different high TB-endemic countries are different. The aim of this study was to investigate the value of IGRA in the diagnosis of active pulmonary TB (PTB) in China.

Methods: We conducted a large-scale retrospective multicenter investigation to further evaluate the role of IGRA in the diagnosis of active PTB in high TB-epidemic populations and the factors affecting the performance of the assay.