DIAGNOSTIC TEST OF SPUTUM GENEXPERT MTB/RIF FOR SMEAR NEGATIVE PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Gene-Xpert MTB/RIF sputum test for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) among patients sputum acid-fast bacillus (AFB) smear negative results in Thailand, a country with a high prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis. We studied 151 patients who presented to Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen, Thailand with a 2 week or more history of fever and/or cough and an abnormal chest radiograph between 2010 and 2014; these patients had at least 2 negative sputum AFB smear results. Of these, 76 were diagnosed as having either confirmed or probable pulmonary TB: the 32 confirmed cases were those with a positive sputum culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and the 44 probable case were those with clinical and radiographic findings consistent with TB and who had a response to anti-TB therapy.