Increased Diagnostic Yield of Tuberculous Serositis by Using Serous Fluid Drainage Flocky Precipitate (SFDFP) as a Testing Sample

Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 6;9(1):1480. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35942-y.

Abstract

A definitive diagnosis of tuberculosis serositis (TS) is still challenging. Our preliminary practice found that Serous Fluid Drainage Flocky Precipitate (SFDFP) was a useful testing sample to diagnose TS. We designed this study to assess the diagnostic performance of SFDPF for TS compared with conventional bacteriology methods on serous fluid (SF). A cohort study was conducted from July 2014 to April 2016. Patients with suspected TS were consecutively screened. SF and SFDFP were collected and tested by Ziehl-Neelsen stain, MTB culture, and Xpert/RIF assay. We compared the diagnostic performance of SF and SFDFP in several test settings. Through this study, 85 patients were enrolled, of whom 70 (82.4%) were confirmed TS or highly probable TS, 13 (15.3%) were none-TS and 2 (2.4%) indeterminate results were ruled out. The overall sensitivity using both SFDFP and SF was significantly higher than each (60% vs. 48% and 41%, p < 0.05). SFDFP and SF samples had similar diagnostic performance (p < 0.05). No false positive was detected in this study. We concluded that SFDFP is a reliable testing sample for diagnosing tuberculous serositis. SFDFP may significantly improve the diagnostic yield as a supplement to conventional tests.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Body Fluids / diagnostic imaging
  • Body Fluids / metabolism
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • China
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / methods*
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / genetics
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Serositis / diagnosis
  • Serositis / metabolism*
  • Serositis / microbiology
  • Specimen Handling / methods
  • Sputum / microbiology
  • Tuberculosis, Cardiovascular / diagnosis*
  • Tuberculosis, Meningeal / diagnosis