BACKGROUNDThe Xpert MTB/RIF showed high sensitivity and specificity in previous studies carried out in different epidemiological and geographical settings and patient populations in high-burden tuberculosis (TB) countries. However, there were little data obtained by validation or demonstration study of the assay in China. In this study, the performance of Xpert MTB/RIF was investigated in two county-level laboratories in Hunan Province, China.

METHODSConsecutive patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and suspicion for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) were enrolled. For each patient suspected to have PTB, three sputum specimens (one spot sputum, one night sputum, and one morning sputum) were collected and each sputum was tested with smear microscopy, Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) culture, and Xpert MTB/RIF test. For comparison across subgroups and testing methods, 95% confidence intervals were calculated. All analyses were done with SPSS 16.0, and P < 0.05 was regarded as significant.

RESULTSFor case detection, the sensitivity of Xpert MTB/RIF was 100% for smear- and culture-positive TB and 88.6% for smear-negative and culture-positive TB; the overall sensitivity was 94.5% for all culture-positive patients. The specificity was 99.8%. The sensitivity of Xpert MTB/RIF assay was 22.0% in clinical TB patients and the specificity reached 100.0% in the group of patients who are infected with nontuberculous mycobacteria. For the detection of rifampin resistance, the sensitivity of MTB/RIF RIF-resistance detection was 92.9%, and the specificity was 98.7%. Of the 26 Xpert MTB/RIF-positive and RIF-resistant patients confirmed by LJ proportion tests, 20 (76.9%) patients were infected by MDR-TB.

CONCLUSIONSThe Xpert MTB/RIF assay is a highly sensitive and specific method for diagnosis of TB and RIF resistance, which will enable it to have the potential to be used in county-level laboratories and lead to the reduction of the infectious pool and improvements in TB control in China. Further evaluations in county-level laboratories for implementing the assay are still required.

Adult ; Antibiotics, Antitubercular ; therapeutic use ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rifampin ; therapeutic use ; Tuberculosis ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the diagnostic accuracy of Xpert^® Mycobacterium tuberculosis/rifampicin (Xpert^® MTB/RIF) for the detection of active tuberculosis (TB) and rifampicin-resistance TB in Chinese patients. METHODS: Four Chinese databases (SinoMed, CNKI, WanFang database, and VIP) and three English databases (PubMed, Embase, and The Cochrane Library) were searched from January 1, 2000 to September 15, 2017, to identify diagnostic tests about the accuracy of Xpert^® MTB/RIF in Chinese patients. Two investigators screened the articles and extracted the information independently, and then the quality of each included study was evaluated by Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS)-2. Bivariate random-effects meta-analysis was conducted to pool the sensitivity and specificity. In addition, subgroup analyses were performed based on patient type (TB patient and TB suspected patient), sample type (sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and others). All statistical analyses were conducted with Stata version 13.0. RESULTS: A total of 47 articles were included in this systematic review. Most of them (38 articles) were in Chinese and only 9 articles were in English. All the articles were published during 2014 to 2017, and the sample size ranged from 31 to 3 151. Forty articles including 42 comparisons about TB were finally included with the pooled sensitivity of 0.94 (95%CI: 0.92, 0.95) and the pooled specificity of 0.87 (95%CI: 0.84, 0.91). Subgroup analysis showed that different patient and specimen types had no significant differences on sensitivity, but the specificity of sputum group was higher than that of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. As for the detection of rifampicin-resistant TB, 33 articles (38 comparisons) were analyzed, the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.92 (95%CI: 0.89, 0.94) and 0.98 (95%CI: 0.97, 0.99) respectively. There were no significant differences between the patient and specimen in the subgroup analyses. The Deeks funnel plot showed a possible publication bias for detecting active tuberculosis (P=0.08) and no publication bias for rifampicin-resistant TB (P=0.24). The likelihood ratio scatter gram showed that in clinical applications, Xpert^® MTB/RIF had a good diagnostic ability for detecting active tuberculosis, and it had good clinical diagnostic value in detecting rifampicin-resistant TB. CONCLUSION Xpert^® MTB/RIF has good sensitivity and specificity in detecting TB and rifampicin-resistant TB in Chinese people. In particular, it has good clinical value in diagnosing rifampicin-resistance TB.
Antibiotics, Antitubercular/therapeutic use* ; China ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Humans ; Rifampin/pharmacology* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tuberculosis/drug therapy* ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant/drug therapy* ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/drug therapy*

Pseudomembranous colitis (PMC) is known to be associated with the administration of antibiotics which alter normal gastrointestinal flora and allow overgrowth of Clostridium difficile. Most cases of rifampicin-induced PMC are seen in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, but not with gastrointestinal tuberculosis. We report a case of PMC associated with rifampicin therapy in a patient with gastrointestinal tuberculosis. A 65-year-old female patient with rectal cancer and gastrointestinal tuberculosis was admitted due to abdominal pain and diarrhea. She was treated with anti-tuberculosis agents containing rifampicin. On colonoscopic examination, mucoid exudates and yellowish plaque lesions were observed. Anti-tuberculosis agents were stopped, and the patient was treated with metronidazole. Symptoms were relieved and did not recur when all the anti-tuberculosis agents except rifampicin were started again. When a patient complains of abdominal pain or diarrhea while taking rifampicin, the physician should consider the possibility of rifampicin-associated PMC.
Aged ; Antibiotics, Antitubercular/*adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/*diagnosis/etiology/pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Rectal Neoplasms/*complications/diagnosis ; Rifampin/*adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Sigmoidoscopy ; Tuberculosis, Gastrointestinal/complications/diagnosis/*drug therapy

There are several reports to demonstrate that rifampicin, a major anti-tuberculosis agent, is associated with some adverse renal effects, with a few cases of rifampicin-induced minimal change disease (MCD). In the present case, a 68-year-old female presented with nausea, vomiting, foamy urine, general weakness and edema. She had been taking rifampicin for 4 weeks due to pleural tuberculosis. The patient had no proteinuria before the anti-tuberculosis agents were started, but urine tests upon admission showed heavy proteinuria with a 24-h urinary protein of 9.2 g/day, and serum creatinine, albumin, and total cholesterol levels were 1.36 mg/dL, 2.40 g/dL, and 283 mg/dL, respectively. MCD was diagnosed, and the patient achieved complete remission after cessation of rifampicin without undergoing steroid therapy.
Aged ; Antibiotics, Antitubercular/*adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Edema/etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Function Tests ; Kidney Glomerulus/pathology ; Nausea/etiology ; Nephrosis, Lipoid/*chemically induced/pathology ; Proteinuria ; Remission Induction ; Rifampin/*adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome ; Tuberculosis, Pleural/*drug therapy

Objective: To evaluate the clinical value of the MeltPro MTB assays in the diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to retrospectively collect all 4 551 patients with confirmed tuberculosis between January 2018 and December 2019 at Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University. Phenotypic drug sensitivity test and GeneXpert MTB/RIF (hereafter referred to as "Xpert") assay were used as gold standards to analyze the accuracy of the probe melting curve method. The clinical value of this technique was also evaluated as a complementary method to conventional assays of drug resistance to increase the detective rate of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Results: By taking the phenotypic drug susceptibility test as the gold standard, the sensitivity of the MeltPro MTB assays to detect resistance to rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol and fluoroquinolone was 14/15, 95.7%(22/23), 2/4 and 8/9,respectively; and the specificity was 92.0%(115/125), 93.2%(109/117), 90.4%(123/136) and 93.9%(123/131),respectively; the overall concordance rate was 92.1%(95%CI:89.6%-94.1%),and the Kappa value of the consistency test was 0.63(95%CI:0.55-0.72).By taking the Xpert test results as the reference, the sensitivity of this technology to the detection of rifampicin resistance was 93.6%(44/47), the specificity was100%(310/310), the concordance rate was 99.2%(95%CI:97.6%-99.7%), and the Kappa value of the consistency test was 0.96(95%CI:0.93-0.99). The MeltPro MTB assays had been used in 4 551 confirmed patients; the proportion of patients who obtained effective drug resistance results increased from 83.3% to 87.8%(P<0.01); and detection rate of rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol, fluoroquinolone resistance, multidrug and pre-extensive drug resistance cases were increased by 3.2%, 14.7%, 22.2%, 13.7%, 11.2% and 12.5%, respectively. Conclusion: The MeltPro MTB assays show satisfactory accuracy in the diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis. This molecular pathological test is an effective complementary method in improving test positivity of drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Humans ; Rifampin/therapeutic use* ; Antibiotics, Antitubercular/therapeutic use* ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Ethambutol/pharmacology* ; Isoniazid/pharmacology* ; Paraffin Embedding ; Retrospective Studies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant/drug therapy*

We observed a rare case of invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) with a lepidic-predominant pattern accompanied by pulmonary tuberculosis. An 85-year-old man with repeated cough and sputum was admitted to Xinhua Hospital. T-SPOT test result was 212 pg/ml (reference value of negative is < 14 pg/ml), Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture was positive, and tuberculin skin test (PPD) was negative (skin induration < 5 mm). The patient was treated with several courses of antibiotics and anti-tuberculosis treatments. Repeated chest CT scans showed disease progression. Bronchoscopy yielded negative results. PET-CT scans showed negative results. A percutaneous lung biopsy revealed mucin-secreting cells lining the alveolar walls. IMA with a lepidic-predominant pattern was diagnosed after invasiveness was found after experimental treatments. Simultaneous occurrence of pulmonary tuberculosis and lung cancer are common; however, the present case of IMA having a lepidic-predominant pattern and coexisting with active tuberculosis has not been reported yet.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antibiotics, Antitubercular ; therapeutic use ; Disease Progression ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Male ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; isolation & purification ; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography ; Pulmonary Alveoli ; pathology ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; diagnosis ; drug therapy

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To determine the incidence and clinical characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) medication-associated Clostridium difficile infection. METHODS: This multicenter study included patients from eight tertiary hospitals enrolled from 2008 to 2013. A retrospective analysis was conducted to identify the clinical features of C. difficile infection in patients who received TB medication. RESULTS: C. difficile infection developed in 54 of the 19,080 patients prescribed TB medication, representing a total incidence of infection of 2.83 cases per 1,000 adults. Fifty-one of the 54 patients (94.4%) were treated with rifampin. The patients were usually treated with oral metronidazole, which produced improvement in 47 of the 54 patients (87%). Twenty-three patients clinically improved with continuous rifampin therapy for C. difficile infection. There were no significant differences in improvement between patients treated continuously (n=21) and patients in whom treatment was discontinued (n=26). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of C. difficile infection after TB medication was not low considering the relatively low TB medication dosage compared to other antibiotics. It may not be always necessary to discontinue TB medication. Instead, decisions concerning discontinuation of TB medication should be based on TB status.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anti-Infective Agents/therapeutic use ; Antibiotics, Antitubercular/*adverse effects ; *Clostridium difficile ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/chemically induced/drug therapy/*epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Metronidazole/therapeutic use ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Rifampin/*adverse effects ; Treatment Outcome ; Tuberculosis/*drug therapy