R. Cartuyvels et al., PROSPECTIVE CLINICAL-EVALUATION OF AMPLICOR MYCOBACTERIUM-TUBERCULOSIS PCR TEST AS A SCREENING METHOD IN A LOW-PREVALENCE POPULATION, Journal of clinical microbiology, 34(8), 1996, pp. 2001-2003
Of 656 respiratory samples analyzed for Mycobacterium tuberculosis by
microscopy, culture, and the Amplicor PCR method, 25 were positive by
culture, 12 were positive by microscopy, and 17 were positive by the A
mplicor PCR method; 16 samples were Amplicor PCR positive and culture
negative. No patient except one with culture-negative, Amplicor PCR-po
sitive samples had clinical indications of tuberculosis. The sensitivi
ty and specificity of the Amplicor PCR compared with those of culture
were 68 and 97.4%, respectively. For culture-positive, smear-negative
samples, the sensitivity of the Amplicor PCR was 46%.