Tuberc Respir Dis.  2010 May;68(5):280-285.

A Tapping the usefulness of Whole Blood Interferon-gamma Assay for Diagnosing Tuberculosis Infection in Children

• Soon EG
• Lim BK
• Kim HM
• Namgoong M
• Cha BH
• Uh Y
• Chun JK

Abstract

BACKGROUND
QuantiFERON(R)-TB Gold In Tube (QFT-G IT) has been used for diagnosing latent tuberculosis infection and active tuberculosis (TB) since 2007. However, there has not been enough data on QFT-G IT for universal use in children. In this study, we evaluated the clinical usefulness of the QFT-G IT in pediatric practice.
METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 70 patients younger than 18 years of age who had taken QFT-G IT and had a tuberculin skin test (TST) between July 2007 and July 2009 at Wonju Christian Hospital. The subjects were divided into two groups, asymptomatic TB exposure group and disease group. Four patients who were taking immunosuppressants during the study period were excluded.
RESULTS
A total of 66 immunocompetent children were included in this study. Among 27 asymptomatic children who had contact histories of TB, 6 (22.2%) were found to be positive by QFT-G IT. Eleven (40.7%) and 5 (18.5%) children were found to be positive by TST with cutoff values of > or =5 mm and > or =10 mm, respectively. Agreement was fair to good between QFT-G IT and TST (kappa=0.59: cutoff value > or =5 mm, kappa=0.7: cutoff value > or =10 mm). In disease group, 14 patients (35.9%) were diagnosed with active tuberculosis, 8/14 (57.1%) were positive on TST and 9/14 (64.3%) on QFT-G IT. The positive rate of acid-fast bacilli smear, TB-polymerase chain reaction, and culture for tuberculosis was 11% (1/9), 27.3% (3/11) and 33.3% (3/9), respectively.
CONCLUSION
Our data support that the QFT-G IT can be used as an additional diagnostic tool for latent and active tuberculosis infection in children.

Keyword

Child; Tuberculosis; Interferon-gamma Release Assay

MeSH Terms

Child
Collodion
Humans
Immunosuppressive Agents
Interferon-gamma
Interferon-gamma Release Tests
Latent Tuberculosis
Retrospective Studies
Skin Tests
Tuberculin
Tuberculosis
Collodion
Immunosuppressive Agents
Interferon-gamma
Tuberculin

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