Abbott RealTime MTB and MTB RIF/INH assays for the diagnosis of tuberculosis and rifampicin/isoniazid resistance.

Background: The Abbott RealTime MTB (Abbott-RT) and Abbott RealTime MTB RIF/INH Resistance (Abbott-RIF/INH) assays have been introduced for the detection of tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the accuracy of Abbott-RT and Abbott-RIF/INH for the detection of TB and DR-TB.

Methods: The Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane and Web of Science databases were searched to identify eligible articles for the systematic review. The pooled analyses were calculated with a bivariate model. Hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curves and the area under the curve (AUC) were used to summarize overall diagnostic performance. Deeks' test was performed to evaluate potential publication bias.

Results: For the Abbott-RT assay, 9 studies including 3, 640 patients met the study criteria. The pooled sensitivity of Abbott-RT for detecting TB was 0.96 (95% CI: 0.88-0.99) and specificity was 0.97 (95% CI: 0.93-0.99). For DR-TB, four studies were included to evaluate the diagnosis accuracy of Abbott-RIF/INH. The pooled sensitivity was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.82-0.93) and specificity was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.96-0.99). No publication bias was found.

Conclusion: Both Abbott-RT and Abbott-RIF/INH assays have good sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for the diagnosis of TB and DR-TB.