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Published on: April 9, 2012
Evaluating the usefulness of the ICT tuberculosis test kit for the diagnosis of tuberculosis
1Department of Clinical Pathology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Korea.
Background:
Early diagnosis of tuberculosis is crucial, especially in Korea, where tuberculosis is endemic.
Aims:
To evaluate the validity of the ICT tuberculosis test (ICT) in early diagnosis of tuberculosis.
Methods:
Sixty eight patients with tuberculosis were tested; 37 had no history of previous tuberculosis (patient group 1), and 31 had reactivated tuberculosis (patient group 2). The control groups comprised 77 subjects: 25 healthy adults, 35 hospital workers, and 17 inpatients with non-tuberculous respiratory diseases.
Results:
The diagnostic sensitivities of ICT were 73% in patient group 1 and 87.1% in patient group 2. In two patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis, both tested positive using ICT. The specificities of ICT were 88%, 94%, and 94% in healthy adults, hospital workers, and non-tuberculous patients, respectively.
Conclusions:
ICT is a useful tool for the diagnosis of tuberculosis.
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