Diagnostic utility of polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical techniques for the laboratory diagnosis of intracranial tuberculoma

In an attempt to establish a tuberculous etiology, polymerase chain reactio n (PCR) and immunohistochemical (IHC) methods were undertaken in formalin-f ixed paraffin sections of ten surgical specimens of intracranial tuberculom a. The control group included an equal number of intracranial fungal granul oma. Both PCR and IHC methods did not yield false-positive results in funga l granuloma. PCR was found to be less sensitive (60%) than IHC method (80%) in this study. IHC method definitely possesses several operational advanta ges over PCR and is more suited to laboratories in developing countries for establishing a tuberculous etiology particularly in those patients in whom the conventional bacteriological methods did not confirm the diagnosis of tuberculoma.