Research and Evaluation of New Diagnostic Technologies for Pulmonary Tuberculosis
Objective To investigate the value of real-time fluorescence quantitative nucleic acid amplification test(xpert)-Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB)/rifampicin(RIF)in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.Methods A total of 164 patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis admitted to Xinyu People's Hospital from January 2021 to July 2023 were selected.All patients underwent sputum smear microscopy and Xpert&MTB/RIF detection.Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture was used as the gold standard.A comparison was made between the two detection technologies'usefulness in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis,as well as their consistency with clinical diagnosis and time requirements.Results Among 164 suspected pulmonary tuberculosis patients,84 cases(51.22%)were clinically diagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis,and 80 cases(48.78%)were non-pulmonary tuberculosis.The negative predictive value of Xpert&MTB/RIF for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis was 72.73%,the specificity was 100.00%(80/80),the sensitivity was 64.29%(54/84),the accuracy was 81.71%(134/164),and the positive predictive value was 100.00%(54/54),which were higher than those of sputum smear microscopy,with statistical differences(P<0.05);The findings of Xpert&mtb/rif testing agreed with the clinical diagnosis(kappa=0.637,P<0.05).There was insufficient agreement between the results of sputum smear microscopic diagnosis and the clinical diagnosis(kappa=0.278,P<0.05);there was a statistically significant difference in the time required for Xpert&mtb/rif testing and sputum smear microscopy(P<0.05).Conclusion The diagnostic efficacy of Xpert&MTB/RIF is better than that of sputum smear microscopy,and the examination time is shorter,which is conducive to early clinical treatment.