The Clinical Utility of Polymerase Chain Reaction in the Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid for the Detection of Mycobacteria.
10.4046/trd.1998.45.3.519
- Author:
Eun Kyung MO
1
;
Tae Young KYUNG
;
Dong Gyu KIM
;
Myung Jae PARK
;
Myung Goo LEE
;
In Gyu HYUN
;
Ki Suck JUNG
;
Kyung Wha LEE
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Tuberculosis;
Bronchoalveolar lavage;
Polymerase chain reaction
- MeSH:
Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid*;
Bronchoalveolar Lavage*;
Diagnosis;
Diagnostic Tests, Routine;
Humans;
Mycobacterium;
Polymerase Chain Reaction*;
Sputum;
Tuberculosis;
Tuberculosis, Pulmonary
- From:Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
1998;45(3):519-528
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis is not easy when the sputum smear for Mycobacterium tuberculosis(M. Tb) is negative. We evaluated the clinical utility of polymerase chain reaction(PCR) for detecting M. Tb in bronchoalveolar lavage(BAL) samples. METHODS: We recruited 84 patients whose sputum smear for M. Th were negative or not available due to no production of sputum. We performed bronchoalveolar lavage for acid-fast stain, culture of mycobacteria, and PCR assay of BAL fluid. We analyzed the results of microbiologic examination. RESULTS: The sensitivity of BAL fluid smear, culture, and PCR were 20%, 38%, and 40%, respectively. The specificity of BAL fluid PCR was 95%. The positive predictive value of PCR was 89%. The smear of BAL fluid was positive in 17%. The PCR of BAL fluid was the only diagnostic test in 17%. Therefore, the BAL fluid analysis including smear and PCR was diagnostic in 34% within 24 hours. The BAL fluid analysis including smear, PCR, and culture was diagnostic in 55% within 2 month. CONCLUSION: The BAL fluid PCR was valuable method in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in patients whose sputa were not available or reveal negative smear.
