ArticlePloS one2017
Diagnosis of smear-negative tuberculosis is greatly improved by Xpert MTB/RIF.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 38 papers, 5 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.
Xpert MTB/RIF Test as the Initial Diagnostic Test in the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis: a Pragmatic Trial
Epidemiological, Demographic and Clinical Aspects of Patients With Tuberculosis, Mycobacteriosis or Infection Latent Tuberculosis
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- Xpert Ultra versus Xpert MTB/RIF for pulmonary tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in adults with presumptive pulmonary tuberculosis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra and Xpert MTB/RIF assays for extrapulmonary tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Diagnostic test accuracy of Xpert MTB/RIF for tuberculous pericarditis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.F1000Research · 2020Pooled it
- Xpert MTB/RIF and Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra for pulmonary tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- XpertThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Comparison of the diagnostic value of targeted next-generation sequencing, metagenomic next-generation sequencing, and Xpert MTB/RIF in adult pulmonary tuberculosis.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- A Case Report of Tuberculous Peritonitis with Negative GeneXpert and Positive Metagenomic Sequencing Results.Infection and drug resistance · 2026Article
- Real-world clinical utility of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra in the assessment of tuberculosis in a low-TB-incidence, high-resource setting.BMJ open respiratory research · 2025Article
- Health system delay and risk factors in pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis before and during the COVID-19 epidemic: a multi-center survey in China.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Evaluation of a real-time PCR assay performance to detectFrontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- How We Treat Drug-Susceptible Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Practical Guide for Clinicians.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- A Novel Microfluidic Dielectrophoresis Technology to Enable Rapid Diagnosis of Mycobacteria tuberculosis in Clinical Samples.The Journal of molecular diagnostics : JMD · 2023Article
- Review and Updates on the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Review
- Contributions of GeneXpertThe international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2022Article
- GeneXpert Based Confirmed Cases among Suspected Cases of Tuberculosis in a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.JNMA; journal of the Nepal Medical Association · 2022Article
- Article
- Effect of sputum quality and role of XpertAfrican journal of laboratory medicine · 2022Article
- Evaluation of trace calls by Xpert MTB/RIF ultra for clinical management in low TB burden settings.PloS one · 2022Observational
- Access to quality diagnosis and rational treatment for tuberculosis: real-world evidence from China-Gates Tuberculosis Control Project Phase III.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDiagnosis of pulmonary (PTB) and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) in smear-negative patients can be difficult. We assessed retrospectively the performance of Xpert MTB/RIF system (Xpert, Cepheid) in diagnosing smear-negative tuberculosis (TB), which represents the most common form of TB in a low incidence setting.
methodsPerformance of Xpert was compared to acid-fast microscopic examination using Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain in patients with culture-confirmed TB.
results386 Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) culture-positive samples were detected out of 5170 specimens tested with smear microscopy, Xpert and culture: 323 were both culture- and Xpert-positive, and 63 culture-positive only. Of these, 234 (60.6%) were smear-negative. In addition Xpert detected 40 probable TB cases, based on clinical findings, which were culture-negative. Compared to culture, Xpert showed an overall sensitivity of 83.7% and a specificity of 99.1%; sensitivity was higher for respiratory samples (86.5%) than for non-respiratory samples (76.8%). Xpert sensitivity for smear-negative culture-confirmed TB was 73.1% and was not influenced by TB localization. As sensitivity of microscopy alone was poor (39.4%), Xpert improved both diagnosis of pulmonary TB (Δ = 36.5%) and extra-pulmonary TB (Δ = 63.4%).
conclusionsXpert MTB/RIF is a sensitive method for rapid diagnosis of TB compared to the conventional ZN staining. Xpert can serve as a sensitive and time-saving diagnostic method for microbiological diagnosis of smear-negative TB in countries with a low TB prevalence.
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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.