Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33177121›Full record

SynthesisJournal of clinical microbiology2021

Value of Xpert MTB/RIF Using Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Hong-Chao Liu, Yu-Lu Gao, Dan-Feng Li, Xi-Yi Zhao, Yuan-Qing Pan, Chang-Tai Zhu

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of clinical microbiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

17 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Clinical performance of the Abbott RealTime Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) PCR on bronchoscopic specimens for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Artificial intelligence to investigate metabolomics data for precision medicine.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
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  11. Article
  12. Observational
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  14. Observational
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  16. Article
  17. ComparingInfection and drug resistance · 2022
    Article
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

6 authors.

Hong-Chao Liu *Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Yu-Lu Gao *Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kunshan Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunshan, China.
Dan-Feng LiDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Xi-Yi ZhaoDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Yuan-Qing PanDepartment of Medical Psychology, Guilin Medical College, Guilin, China panyuanq@126.com zct101@163.com.
Chang-Tai ZhuDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China panyuanq@126.com zct101@163.com.ORCID 0000-0002-5250-1937

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The performance of Xpert MTB/RIF using bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) remains unclear. Therefore, a systematic review/meta-analysis was conducted. Studies published before 31 December 2019 were retrieved from the PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases using the keywords "pulmonary tuberculosis," "Xpert MTB/RIF," and "BAL." Two independent evaluators extracted the data and assessed the bias risk of the included studies. A random-effects model was used to calculate the overall sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios (PLR and NLR, respectively), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and the area under the curve (AUC), as well as the respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Nineteen trials involving 3,019 participants met the inclusion criteria. Compared to the culture method, the pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, DOR, and the AUC with 95% CIs of Xpert MTB/RIF were 0.87 (0.84 to 0.90), 0.92 (0.91 to 0.93), 10.21 (5.78 to 18.02), 0.16 (0.12 to 0.22), 78.95 (38.59 to 161.53), and 0.9467 (0.9462 to 0.9472), respectively. Relative to the composite reference standard, the observed values were 0.69 (0.65 to 0.72), 0.98 (0.98 to 0.99), 37.50 (18.59 to 75.62), 0.30 (0.21 to 0.43), 171.98 (80.82 to 365.96), and 0.9691 (0.9683 to 0.9699), respectively. All subgroups, except children, showed high sensitivity and specificity. In conclusion, the use of Xpert MTB/RIF in the context of BAL samples has a high diagnostic performance for PTB (except for children) and may serve as an alternative rapid diagnostic tool.

Indexed as

Antibiotics, AntitubercularMycobacterium tuberculosisTuberculosis, PulmonaryBronchoalveolar Lavage FluidChildDrug Resistance, BacterialHumansRifampinSensitivity and SpecificityAntibiotics, AntitubercularRifampinbronchoalveolar lavage fluidmeta-analysispulmonary tuberculosissystematic reviewXpert MTB/RIF

Identifiers

PMID33177121
PMCPMC8092718

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.