Enhancement of diagnostic efficiency by a gamma interferon release assay for pulmonary tuberculosis

This study was designed to examine the use of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay as an aid in the diagnosis of active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in Brazilian patients. Using the receiver operating characteristic curve, the cutoff was adjusted to >= 0.20 IU/ml. The sensitivity increased to 86%, with 100% specificity. All TB patients with negative sputum smear microscopy and negative culture results were positive using this test.

FAPESP Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo[03/08308-2]

LIM-48 Hospital das Clinicas, School of Medicine,University of Sao Paulo HC-FM-USP

CNPq Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico