Performance of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra for diagnosis of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis, one year of use in a multi-centric hospital laboratory in Brussels, Belgium

Among the challenges in controlling tuberculosis, a rapid and accurate diagnostic test for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex ( MTB c) and its resistance to first line therapies is crucial. We evaluated the performance of the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra assay (Xpert Ultra) for the rapid detection of MTB c and rifampicin resistance (RR) in 1120 pulmonary and 461 extra-pulmonary clinical specimens and compared it with conventional phenotypic techniques. The Xpert Ultra assay detected MTB c in 223 (14.1%) samples with an overall sensitivity and specificity, using culture as the “gold sta... Mehr ...