Comparison of Culture, Xpert MTB/Rif and EZN Staining Method to Identify Mycobacterium Tuberculosis From Pulmonary and Extra Pulmonary Specimens

Abstract

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a major health problem worldwide, especially in developing countries. The effective treatment of M. tuberculosis depends on early diagnosis. In this study, 1577 M. tuberculosis strains were evaluated retrospectively from clinical samples sent between March 2014 and June 2018. The rate of pulmonary samples was determined as 694 (44%). Positive sample rate was 74 (4.69%) in culture, 19 (1.20%) in EZN staining and 75 (4.75%) in Xpert MTB/RIF. Compared to standard culture, the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the Xpert MTB / RIF system were 100%, 99.93%, 98.66% and 100%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of EZN were 57.36%, 100%, 100% and 96.46%, respectively. Early diagnosis and treatment of M. tuberculosis is of great importance. According to these results, it can be concluded that Xpert MTB / RIF is a fast and reliable system that can be used in the diagnosis of tuberculosis and when used together with conventional tests, it can make important contributions to the diagnosis of tuberculosis. © 2020 Ondokuz Mayis Universitesi. All rights reserved.