SynthesisPloS one2018
Biomarkers for diagnosis of childhood tuberculosis: A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 3 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.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Paediatric tuberculosis diagnosis using Mycobacterium tuberculosis real-time polymerase chain reaction assay: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- The association between bacteria colonizing the upper respiratory tract and lower respiratory tract infection in young children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Performance of metabonomic serum analysis for diagnostics in paediatric tuberculosis.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- A multi-omics study reveals pathway-level insights and predictive biomarkers in pediatric TB.Clinical proteomics · 2026Article
- Potential urine NMR Metabolomic signatures for early diagnosis of paediatric tuberculosis.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Exploring non-sputum biosignatures for tuberculosis triage and diagnosis in children living with HIV.Expert review of molecular diagnostics · 2025Review
- Plasma proteomics for biomarker discovery in childhood tuberculosis.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Can Complete Blood Count Parameters and Serum Electrolyte Levels Have a Predictive Role in Differential Diagnosis of Tuberculosis from Community-acquired Pneumonia in Children?Turkish archives of pediatrics · 2024Article
- Research Questions and Priorities for Pediatric Tuberculosis: A Survey of Published Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.Tuberculosis research and treatment · 2022Review
- Paediatric tuberculosis - new advances to close persistent gaps.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2021Article
- Understanding the interaction between cytomegalovirus and tuberculosis in children: The way forward.PLoS pathogens · 2021Review
- Host blood transcriptomic biomarkers of tuberculosis disease in people living with HIV: a systematic review protocol.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Diagnostic Performance of the Fujifilm SILVAMP TB-LAM in Children with Presumptive Tuberculosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Host-Based Biomarkers in Saliva for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Children: A Mini-Review.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2021Review
- Discovery and Validation of a Three-Cytokine Plasma Signature as a Biomarker for Diagnosis of Pediatric Tuberculosis.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Article
- Tuberculosis diagnostics: overcoming ancient challenges with modern solutions.Emerging topics in life sciences · 2020Review
- Diagnostic performance of culture filtered protein 10-specific perforin in pediatric patients with active tuberculosis.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2020Article
- Serological biomarkers for monitoring response to treatment of pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis in children and adolescents.Tuberculosis (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2020Article
- Validation of Differentially Expressed Immune Biomarkers in Latent and Active Tuberculosis by Real-Time PCR.Frontiers in immunology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionAs studies of biomarkers of tuberculosis (TB) disease provide hope for a simple, point-of-care test, we aimed to synthesize evidence on biomarkers for diagnosis of TB in children and compare their accuracy to published target product profiles (TPP).
methodsWe conducted a systematic review of biomarkers for diagnosis of pulmonary TB in exclusively paediatric populations, defined as age less than 15 years. PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched for relevant publications from January 1, 2000 to November 27, 2017. Studies using mixed adult and paediatric populations or reporting biomarkers for extrapulmonary TB were excluded. Study quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) framework. No meta-analysis was done because the published childhood TB biomarkers studies were mostly early stage studies and highly heterogeneous.
resultsThe 29 studies included in this systematic review comprise 20 case-control studies, six cohort studies and three cross-sectional studies. These studies reported diverse and heterogeneous forms of biomarkers requiring different types of clinical specimen and laboratory assays. Majority of the studies (27/29 [93%]) either did not meet the criteria in at least one of the four domains of the QUADAS-2 reporting framework or the assessment was unclear. However, the diagnostic performance of biomarkers reported in 22 studies met one or both of the WHO-recommended minimal targets of 66% sensitivity and 98% specificity for a new diagnostic test for TB disease in children, and/or 90% sensitivity and 70% specificity for a triage test.
conclusionWe found that majority of the biomarkers for diagnosis of TB in children are promising but will need further refining and optimization to improve their performances. As new data are emerging, stronger emphasis should be placed on improving the design, quality and general reporting of future studies investigating TB biomarkers in children.
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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.