Diagnostic evaluation of Tru-Nat MTB/Rif test in comparison with microscopy for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis at tertiary care hospital of eastern Uttar Pradesh

Piyush Ranjan; Atul R Rukadikar; Vivek Hada; Aroop Mohanty; Parul Singh

doi:10.18502/ijm.v16i4.16305

Piyush Ranjan Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Atul R Rukadikar Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Vivek Hada Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Aroop Mohanty Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Parul Singh Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijm.v16i4.16305

Keywords: Microscopy; Diagnostic accuracy; Point-of-care testing; Tuberculosis; Rapid testing; Infectious diseases

Abstract

Background and Objectives: This study evaluated the efficacy of the TrueLab™ Real Time mini-PCR system in providing rapid and accurate diagnostic results for tuberculosis (TB) detection in India. The goal is to improve case detection and ac- celerate treatment in settings with limited resources.

Materials and Methods: This prospective study was conducted by the Department of Microbiology on 120 patients, age ranging from >=15 years with at least two clinical symptoms of pulmonary TB. Molbio and Universal Cartridge Based Sam- ple Prep were the 2 methods used for processing sputum samples. The diagnosis was based on the MTB Real Time PCR test, which has a detection limit of 100 CFU/mL. Patients under 15 years, samples lacking clinical background, saliva specimens or extra-pulmonary TB cases were excluded from the study.

Results: A total of 44.17% samples were positive for TB with maximum positivity in the age group 31-45 years. Positivity rate was found to be higher in females. In 4.17% of cases there was rifampicin resistance, which was significantly high in previously treated cases. Comparison of Truenat with Ziehl-Neelsen and fluorescent method revealed that it was more sen- sitive and less time consuming.

Conclusion: Truenat MTB/RIF is a sensitive detection system for TB with rapid results, which serves as an important tool in the early management of tuberculosis patients and drug-resistant-TB cases.