SynthesisEBioMedicine2019
Diagnosis of tuberculosis through breath test: A systematic review.
Synthesis in EBioMedicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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
40 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnostic Accuracy of Breath Tests to Detect Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review.Lung · 2025Pooled it
- Revolutionizing diagnosis of pulmonaryFrontiers in microbiology · 2024Pooled it
- Machine and Deep Learning for Tuberculosis Detection on Chest X-Rays: Systematic Literature Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Closing gaps through innovation in the tuberculosis pathology value chain.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2026Review
- Advanced Technologies for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Using Exhaled Breath Samples: A Systematic Scoping Review.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2026Article
- A machine learning model and molecular clusters of epigenetic chromatin regulators in tuberculosis based on bioinformatics and clinical samples.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- New volatile organic compounds from the exhaled breath of active tuberculosis patients.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Role of Ferroptosis and Cuproptosis in Tuberculosis Pathogenesis: Implications for Therapeutic Strategies.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Review
- WHO target product profile for TB detection at peripheral settings: 2024 update.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Unlocking the potential of miRNAs in detecting pulmonary tuberculosis: prospects and pitfalls.Expert reviews in molecular medicine · 2024Review
- Detection ofSensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Immune correlates of protection as a game changer in tuberculosis vaccine development.NPJ vaccines · 2024Review
- Non-sputum-based samples and biomarkers for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: the hope to improve childhood and HIV-associated tuberculosis diagnosis.European journal of medical research · 2024Review
- Progress and challenges of developing volatile metabolites from exhaled breath as a biomarker platform.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2024Review
- Advances in TB diagnostics: A critical element for the elimination toolkit.The Indian journal of medical research · 2024Article
- Neutrophil lncRNA ZNF100-6:2 is a potential diagnostic marker for active pulmonary tuberculosis.European journal of medical research · 2024Article
- Blazing the trail for innovative tuberculosis diagnostics.Infection · 2024Review
- A PVDF-based colorimetric sensor array for noninvasive detection of multiple disease-related volatile organic compounds.Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry · 2023Article
- Comparative analysis of five etiological detecting techniques for the positive rates in the diagnosis of tuberculous granuloma.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2023Article
- Volatile Organic Compound Identification-Based Tuberculosis Screening among TB Suspects: A Diagnostic Accuracy Study.Advances in respiratory medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBreath tests may diagnose tuberculosis (TB) through detecting specific volatile organic compounds produced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis or the infected host.
methodsTo estimate the diagnostic accuracy of breath test with electronic-nose and other devices against culture or other tests for TB, we screened multiple databases until January 6, 2019.
findingsWe included fourteen studies, with 1715 subjects in the analysis. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of electronic-nose were 0.93 (95% CI 0.82-0.97) and 0.93 (95% CI 0.82-0.97), respectively, and no heterogeneity was found. The sensitivity and specificity of other breath test devices ranged from 0.62 to 1.00, and 0.11 to 0.84, respectively.
interpretationThe low to moderate evidence of these studies shows that breath tests can diagnose TB accurately, however, to give a real-time test result, additional development is needed. Research should also focus on sputum smear negative TB, children, and the positioning of breath testing in the diagnostic work flow.
fundingThe authors received no specific funding for this work.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.