SynthesisThe Journal of infectious diseases2011
Interferon-γ release assays for active pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis in adults in low- and middle-income countries: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in The Journal of infectious diseases, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 133 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
133 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 254 citations in OpenAlex.
- How to diagnose TB in migrants? A systematic review of reviews and decision tree analytical modelling exercise to evaluate properties for single and combined tuberculosis screening tests.The European respiratory journal · 2025Pooled it
- Diagnostic accuracy of interferon-gamma release assays for diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Interferon gamma release assays for diagnosis of osteoarticular tuberculosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- MicroRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for Tuberculosis: A systematic review and meta- analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review of biomarkers to detect active tuberculosis.Nature microbiology · 2019Pooled it
- Systematic review of motor evoked potentials monitoring during thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm open repair surgery: a diagnostic meta-analysis.Journal of anesthesia · 2016Pooled it
- Accuracy of the interferon-γ release assay for the diagnosis of active tuberculosis among HIV-seropositive individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2016Pooled it
- Performance of interferon-γ release assays in the diagnosis of confirmed active tuberculosis in immunocompetent children: a new systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2016Pooled it
- Accuracy of the Bronchoalveolar Lavage Enzyme-Linked Immunospot Assay for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Meta-analysis.Medicine · 2016Pooled it
- Interferon Gamma Release Assays for Diagnosis of Pleural Tuberculosis: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2015Pooled it
- Evaluation of interferon-gamma release assays for the diagnosis of tuberculosis: an updated meta-analysis.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2012Pooled it
- Promise versus reality: optimism bias in package inserts for tuberculosis diagnostics.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2012Pooled it
- Predictive value of interferon-γ release assays for incident active tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2012Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Community-Wide Universal HIV Test and Treat Intervention Reduces Tuberculosis Transmission in Rural Uganda: A Cluster-Randomized Trial.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2024Trial
- Safety of a Novel ESAT6-CFP10 skin test compared with tuberculin skin test in a double-blind, randomized, controlled study.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Trial
- Sensitivity, Specificity, and Safety of a Novel ESAT6-CFP10 Skin Test for Tuberculosis Infection in China: 2 Randomized, Self-Controlled, Parallel-Group Phase 2b Trials.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2022Trial
- Trial
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- The phenotype of the Cryptococcus-specific CD4+ memory T-cell response is associated with disease severity and outcome in HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2013Trial
73 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe diagnostic value of interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) for active tuberculosis in low- and middle-income countries is unclear.
methodsWe searched multiple databases for studies published through May 2010 that evaluated the diagnostic performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) and T-SPOT.TB (T-SPOT) among adults with suspected active pulmonary tuberculosis or patients with confirmed cases in low- and middle-income countries. We summarized test performance characteristics with use of forest plots, hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) curves, and bivariate random effects models.
resultsOur search identified 789 citations, of which 27 observational studies (17 QFT-GIT and 10 T-SPOT) evaluating 590 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-uninfected and 844 HIV-infected individuals met inclusion criteria. Among HIV-infected patients, HSROC/bivariate pooled sensitivity estimates (highest quality data) were 76% (95% confidence interval [CI], 45%-92%) for T-SPOT and 60% (95% CI, 34%-82%) for QFT-GIT. HSROC/bivariate pooled specificity estimates were low for both IGRA platforms among all participants (T-SPOT, 61% [95% CI, 40%-79%]; QFT-GIT, 52% [95% CI, 41%-62%]) and among HIV-infected persons (T-SPOT, 52% [95% CI, 40%-63%]; QFT-GIT, 50% [95% CI, 35%-65%]). There was no consistent evidence that either IGRA was more sensitive than the tuberculin skin test for active tuberculosis diagnosis.
conclusionsIn low- and middle-income countries, neither the tuberculin skin test nor IGRAs have value for active tuberculosis diagnosis in adults, especially in the context of HIV coinfection.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.