Background: We assessed the role of urine lipoarabinomannan (LAM) grade and a second LAM test for HIV-associated pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) screening in outpatient clinics in South Africa.
Methods: We enrolled newly diagnosed HIV-infected adults (≥18 years) at 4 clinics, excluding those on TB therapy. Participants provided sputum for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) microscopy and culture. Nurses conducted 2 rapid urine LAM tests at the point-of-care and graded positive results from low (faint) to high (5+). Culture-confirmed pulmonary TB was the gold standard. We used area under receiver operating curves (AUROC) to compare screening strategies.
Results: Among 320 HIV-infected adults, median CD4 was 248 cells per cubic millimeter (interquartile range, 107-379/mm); 54 (17%) were TB culture positive. Fifty-two (16%) of all participants were LAM positive by either test; correlation between LAM tests was high. Among 10 "faint" positive results, 2 (20%) had culture-positive TB. Using ≥1+ LAM grade as positive, 1 LAM test had sensitivity of 41% [95% confidence interval (CI): 28% to 55%] and specificity of 92% (95% CI: 88% to 95%). A 2 LAM test strategy had a sensitivity of 43% (95% CI: 29% to 57%). One LAM test ≥1+ grade (AUROC = 0.66; 95% CI: 0.60 to 0.73) was significantly better than sputum AFB alone. The optimal strategy was sequentially performing 1 LAM test followed by sputum AFB if LAM grade <1+ (AUROC = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.63 to 0.77), which had sensitivity of 48% (95% CI: 34% to 62%) and specificity of 91% (95% CI: 87% to 94%).
Conclusions: In this clinic-based study, "faint" line was a false-positive second urine LAM test added no value, and an optimal screening strategy was 1 LAM test followed by sputum AFB microscopy for urine LAM-negative people.