Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23400368›Full record

ArticleThorax2013

How should I interpret an interferon gamma release assay result for tuberculosis infection?

Ibrahim Abubakar, Helen Ruth Stagg, Hilary Whitworth, Ajit Lalvani

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Thorax, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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

21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Infection and drug resistance · 2022
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Diagnosis and Management of Latent Tuberculosis Infection.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine · 2015
    Review
  19. Article
  20. Observational
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 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Ibrahim AbubakarResearch Department of Infection and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.
Helen Ruth Stagg
Hilary Whitworth
Ajit Lalvani
Imperial College London · GBUniversity College London · GB

Funding

Department of Health 08/106/02Department of Health 08/68/01Department of Health HTA/08/106/02Department of Health SRF-2011-04-001Wellcome Trust 064353
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInterferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) are the first new diagnostic tests for latent tuberculosis (TB) infection (LTBI) since the century-old tuberculin skin test (TST). They are cell-mediated immune-based blood tests that have revolutionised LTBI diagnosis and are increasingly recommended by national guidelines.

objectivesWith the rapid expansion of the IGRA evidence-base in recent years, the limitations of IGRA and uncertainties in clinical interpretation of IGRA results have increasingly come into focus. In LTBI diagnosis these include: prognostic power of IGRAs relative to TST for quantifying risk of progression to active disease, false-negative rates in immunocompromised patients, the clinical meaning of IGRA reversion and the significance of the size of IGRA response. Furthermore, the role of IGRAs in the diagnostic work-up of active TB is unclear, and there is little evidence supporting use of the tests in anti-TB treatment monitoring. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH: On-going large prospective longitudinal clinical endpoint cohort studies of active and latent TB will tackle some of the uncertainties regarding IGRAs. Here we discuss clinical practice and guidance in light of the current uncertainties, based on existing evidence. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPACT: Current and planned clinical research will fill the gaps in the evidence-base, narrowing the areas of uncertainty and informing future policy. Translational research into next-generation IGRAs and new T cell-based diagnostic platforms will likely overcome the limitations of current IGRAs in the near future.

Indexed as

Interferon-gamma Release TestsDisease ProgressionHumansLatent TuberculosisPractice Guidelines as TopicPredictive Value of TestsTuberculosis, Pulmonary

Identifiers

PMID23400368
PMCPMC5741174
OpenAlexW2128356749

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
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.