ArticlePloS one2018
Performance and variability of QuantiFERON Gold Plus assay associated with phlebotomy type.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 2 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
5 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessing the Diagnostic Performance of New Commercial Interferon-γ Release Assays for Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2023Pooled it
- Comparing the Diagnostic Performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus to Other Tests of Latent Tuberculosis Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Pooled it
- Associations Between QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus IFNγ Concentrations and Progression to Symptomatic Tuberculosis in Global High-Burden TB Settings.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Preliminary performance of the VIDAS TB-IGRA as an aid in the diagnosis of individuals infected withJournal of clinical microbiology · 2025Article
- Fourth-Generation QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus: What Is the Evidence?Journal of clinical microbiology · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundQuantiFERON Gold Plus (Plus) assay has two approved methods for blood collection: direct in-tube (Plus direct) or the transfer of blood from a lithium heparin tube (Plus transfer). Currently, there is little data comparing the results of Plus and the QuantiFERON Gold In-Tube (Gold) based on blood collection.
methodsIn 2017, high risk healthcare workers undergoing annual tuberculosis infection screening at Houston Methodist Hospital, a private hospital in the Texas Medical Center (Houston, TX, U.S.A.) were consented and enrolled in a study comparing the Gold-in-tube (Gold), Plus direct in-tube, and Plus transfer assays. Blood was drawn concurrently for all 3 assays.
resultsPhlebotomy occurred on 300 consecutive, consented and enrolled participants in the study. The proportion of positive test results for the Gold, Plus direct and Plus transfer assays were 10% (29/300), 12% (35/299) and 17% (51/299), respectively. The agreement in the results of Gold versus Plus direct, Gold versus Plus transfer, and Plus direct versus Plus transfer was 91%, kappa (κ) = 0.56; 91%, κ = 0.59; and 85%, κ = 0.37, respectively.
conclusionsAmong high risk healthcare workers in a low prevalence tuberculosis setting, the Gold Plus assay had a higher proportion of positive results than the Gold in-tube assay. The agreement between the Gold, Plus direct and Plus transfer assays was unexpectedly low for simultaneously obtained samples. Blood transfer using lithium heparin offers individual clinics and public health programs greater ability to customize protocols, but variability of results still exists.
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Registered trials
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