Evidence map›Paper›PMID 20842400›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology2011

Audit and improve! Evaluation of a real-time probe-based PCR assay with internal control for the direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.

M Inoue, W Y Tang, S Y Wee, T Barkham

Abstract readEvaluation Study
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

M InoueExperimental Therapeutics Center, Agency for Science, Technology & Research, Nanos, Singapore, Singapore.
W Y Tang
S Y Wee
T Barkham
Tan Tock Seng Hospital · SGAgency for Science, Technology and Research · SGExperimental Drug Development Centre · SG

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We retrospectively audited the performance of the commercial kit in use in our laboratory for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and found the sensitivity to be unacceptably low at 69% (52/75). We developed an in-house end-point polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detecting IS6110, an IS-like element of MTBC, and achieved a sensitivity of 90% (66/73) with the same DNA samples, re-emphasising the poor performance of the commercial kit. In order to avoid specificity issues surrounding gel-based PCR, we developed a probe-based real-time PCR assay with an internal control and achieved a sensitivity of 84%, specificity of 97% and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 207. The evaluation was performed on clinically requested samples, so we expect the performance of the assay in real life to match the data from this evaluation. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines recommending nucleic acid tests for the investigation of possible cases of tuberculosis are expected to promote the use of molecular assays. It is important that clinical laboratories do not assume that assays, in-house or commercial, will perform well or that they will continue to perform well. Audit at regular intervals is necessary to maintain confidence and to demonstrate that the assay works to specification in the real test population.

Indexed as

Reference StandardsBacteriological TechniquesDNA, BacterialDNA Transposable ElementsHumansMycobacterium tuberculosisPolymerase Chain ReactionSensitivity and SpecificityTuberculosisDNA, BacterialDNA Transposable Elements

Identifiers

PMID20842400
OpenAlexW2008378498

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.