ArticleBMC infectious diseases2009
Performance of the tuberculin skin test and interferon-gamma release assay for detection of tuberculosis infection in immunocompromised patients in a BCG-vaccinated population.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 90 citations in OpenAlex.
- Repeat testing or additional tuberculin skin tests for management of indeterminate results of interferon-gamma release assays: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- American College of Rheumatology Guidance for COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients With Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Version 3.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2021Guideline
- American College of Rheumatology Guidance for COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients With Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Version 1.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2021Guideline
- Evaluation of a Fluorescence Immunoassay-Based IGRA for Latent Tuberculosis Diagnosis: A Simplified, Cost-Effective Alternative.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Tuberculosis Diagnostic Methods: Clinical Applicability, Implementation Challenges, and Integrated Testing Strategies.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Diagnosis and Treatment of Latent Tuberculosis Infection in Adults in South Korea.Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases · 2025Article
- American College of Rheumatology Guidance for COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients With Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Version 5.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2023Article
- Determinants of QuantiFERON Plus-diagnosed tuberculosis infection in adult Ugandan TB contacts: A cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2023Article
- Tuberculin skin test before biologic and targeted therapies: does the same rule apply for all?Rheumatology international · 2022Article
- American College of Rheumatology Guidance for COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients With Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Version 4.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2022Article
- Tuberculosis reactivation at ileum following immune checkpoint inhibition with pembrolizumab for metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a case report.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Article
- Frequency and Factors of Indeterminate QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube and QuantiFERON-TB Gold PLUS Test Results in Rheumatic Diseases.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- American College of Rheumatology Guidance for COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients With Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Version 2.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2021Article
- Development of a Simple and Robust Whole Blood Assay with Dual Co-Stimulation to Quantify the Release of T-Cellular Signature Cytokines in Response toJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Defining an intermediate category of tuberculin skin test: A mixture model analysis of two high-risk populations from Kampala, Uganda.PloS one · 2021Article
- Chest roentgenography is complementary to interferon-gamma release assay in latent tuberculosis infection screening of rheumatic patients.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2020Article
- Comparative evaluation of QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection during solid organ transplantation.Korean journal of transplantation · 2020Article
- Comparison between the InterferonPulmonary medicine · 2020Article
- Observational
- Risk Factors for False-Negative Interferon-γ Release Assay Results in Culture-Confirmed Childhood TB.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInterferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) may improve diagnostic accuracy for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). This study compared the performance of the tuberculin skin test (TST) with that of IGRA for the diagnosis of LTBI in immunocompromised patients in an intermediate TB burden country where BCG vaccination is mandatory.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective observational study of patients given the TST and an IGRA, the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-IT), at Severance Hospital, a tertiary hospital in South Korea, from December 2006 to May 2009.
resultsOf 211 patients who underwent TST and QFT-IT testing, 117 (55%) were classified as immunocompromised. Significantly fewer immunocompromised than immunocompetent patients had positive TST results (10.3% vs. 27.7%, p 0.001), whereas the percentage of positive QFT-IT results was comparable for both groups (21.4% vs. 25.5%). However, indeterminate QFT-IT results were more frequent in immunocompromised than immunocompetent patients (21.4% vs. 9.6%, p 0.021). Agreement between the TST and QFT-IT was fair for the immunocompromised group (kappa = 0.38), but moderate agreement was observed for the immunocompetent group (kappa = 0.57). Indeterminate QFT-IT results were associated with anaemia, lymphocytopenia, hypoproteinemia, and hypoalbuminemia.
conclusionIn immunocompromised patients, the QFT-IT may be more sensitive than the TST for detection of LTBI, but it resulted in a considerable proportion of indeterminate results. Therefore, both tests may maximise the efficacy of screening for LTBI in immunocompromised patients.
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