Work

Diagnosis of Concurrent Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Tuberculous Otitis Media Confirmed by Xpert MTB/RIF in the United States

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: Tuberculosis (TB) remains an important cause of infectious morbidity in the United States (US), necessitating timely and accurate diagnosis. We report a case of concurrent pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB presenting as tuberculous otitis media in a hospitalized US patient admitted with cough, night sweats, and unilateral purulent otorrhea. Diagnosis was made by smear microscopy and rapidly confirmed by Xpert MTB/RIF-a novel, automated nucleic acid amplification test for the rapid detection of drug-susceptible and drug-resistant TB. This case adds to the growing body of evidence validating Xpert MTB/RIF as an effective tool for the rapid diagnosis of extrapulmonary TB, even in low TB-prevalence settings such as the US, when testing is performed on non-respiratory specimens.

Source: Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice

DOI: 10.1097/ipc.0000000000000333

Authors: Kathleen M. Tompkins, Melissa A. Reimers, Becky L. White, Michael E. Herce

Institutions: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia

Language: English

Topic: Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology

Subfield: Infectious Diseases

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases