TY - JOUR T1 - Clinical utility of the interferon-gamma for the diagnosis of active pulmonary tuberculosis JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p2661 AU - Svetlana Kasikovic Lecic AU - Slobodan Pavlovic AU - Vesna Kuruc AU - Miroslav Ilic AU - Darinka Kukavica Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p2661.abstract N2 - Introduction: A rapid diagnosis of TB is crucial not only for patients, but also for TB control in the community. Currently, T-cell based interferon gamma release assays (IGRA) are acknowledged as the best methods available for the screening of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and also as aid for the diagnosis of active tuberculosis (TB). The performance of these diagnostic tests has not been evaluated in Serbia.Aim: To compare the sensitivity of QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-tube test (QFT), tuberculin skin test (TST) and acid-fast staining of sputa in patients with culture confirmed active pulmonary TB (PTB).Methods: The sensitivities were evaluated in 70 HIV negative patients with culture confirmed M. tuberculosis infection. The sputum culture result was used as a gold standard. TST results were analysed at 5, 10 and 15mm cut-offs. QFT test was interpreted following the manufacturer's criteria.Results: Sensitivities of the TST using a 5, 10 and 15mm of cut-offs were low: 55,7%, 51,4%, 45,7% respectively. Sensitivity of QFT (68,6%) was higher than that for all the TST sensitivities. The overall agreement between TST (all cut-offs) and QFT was poor. Sensitivity of the acid-fast staining of sputa was 75,7%. Naither detected statistical significant difference between sensitivity of QFT and the acid-fast staining of sputa, nor between of QFT and TST≥5 and TST ≥10 mm, but detected between sensitivity of QFT and TST≥15 mm (p=0,01).Conclusion: Although findings have revealed a generally low sensitivity of the QFT, our opinion is that QFT can be used as adjunct diagnostic technique for active TB disease. ER -