Tuberc Respir Dis.  1995 Feb;42(1):35-41. 10.4046/trd.1995.42.1.35.

Diagnosis of Tuberculous Cervical Lymphadenitis Using Polymerase Chain Reaction

• Kim H
• Hyun IK
• Lee MK
• Jung KS
• Ahn HK

• KMID: 2045050
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.1995.42.1.35

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis can be diagnosed by clinical findings, chest X-ray, Mantoux test, but confirmed only by excisional biopsy. The polymerase chain reaction(PCR) is now widely applied to test very small amount of pathogen and would be used to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in biopsied tissues and fine needle aspirates. METHOD: We carried out the PCR using IS-1 and IS-2 primers in 16 samples from tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis patients, and 13 samples from non-tuberculous cervical lymphadenopathy patients. Acid fast staining and culture for Mycobacterium were all negative.
RESULTS
All of 8 pathologically confirmed tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis samples showed positive PCR results, and of 5/8 clinically diagnosed samples were positive. None of 6 pathologically excluded samples were positive, and among 7 clinically undiagnosed samples 2 showed positive PCR results.
CONCLUSION
In patients with suspected tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis, PCR could be used to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis using biopsied tissues and even fine needle aspirates with good sensitivity and specificity.

Keyword

Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis; PCR; Fine needle aspiration

MeSH Terms

Biopsy
Biopsy, Fine-Needle
Diagnosis*
Humans
Lymphadenitis*
Lymphatic Diseases
Mycobacterium
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Needles
Polymerase Chain Reaction*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Thorax