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» Articles » PMID: 39040796

Navigating Diagnostic Pitfalls: False Positivity in GeneXpert Mycobacterium Tuberculosis/Rifampicin Assay

Overview
Journal Cureus
Specialty Biomedical Engineering
Date 2024 Jul 23
PMID 39040796
Authors
Mahavir Bagrecha
Siri Vineeth A Ganta
Shahzad Mirza
Affiliations
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Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB), which is predominantly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), poses severe diagnostic hurdles, especially with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), which spreads by aerosols. Sputum culture, the gold standard for MTB diagnosis, is time-consuming, expensive, and easily contaminated. The GeneXpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) assay, a molecular diagnostic tool, can quickly detect MTB and rifampicin (RIF) resistance. However, the ability to identify both live and non-viable MTB DNA, for example, in patients with a previous history of pulmonary tuberculosis or sampling from a contaminated bronchoscope, can result in false positives, as demonstrated in this case series. We present three cases of PTB diagnosed with Xpert, each with no conventional TB symptoms.

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