Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34394971›Full record

ArticleSouthern African journal of HIV medicine2021

Clinical, radiological, and laboratory predictors of a positive urine lipoarabinomannan test in sputum-scarce and sputum-negative patients with HIV-associated tuberculosis in two Johannesburg hospitals.

Lior Chernick, Ismail S Kalla, Michelle Venter

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Southern African journal of HIV medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 51% of its field
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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. 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

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Lior ChernickDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7173-5333
Ismail S KallaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9131-7123
Michelle VenterDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5416-7082
University of the Witwatersrand · ZAJohannesburg Hospital · ZA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of mortality in persons living with HIV (PLWH). Sputum-based diagnosis of TB in patients with low CD4 counts is hampered by paucibacillary disease and consequent sputum scarcity or negative sputum results. Urine lipoarabinomannan (LAM) has shown promise in the point-of-care detection of TB in this patient subset but lacks sensitivity, and its exact role in a diagnostic algorithm for TB in South Africa remains to be clarified.

objectivesThe objective of this study was to better define the patient profile and the TB characteristics associated with a positive urine LAM (LAM+ve) test.

methodThis multicentre retrospective record review examined the clinical, radiological, and laboratory characteristics of hospitalised PLWH receiving urine LAM testing with sputum-scarce and/or negative sputum GeneXpert

resultsMore than a third of patients, 121/342 (35%), were LAM+ve. The positive yield was greater in the sputum-scarce than the sputum-negative group, 66/156 (42%) versus 55/186 (30%),

conclusionUrine LAM testing of hospitalised PLWH with suspected active TB had significant diagnostic utility in those that were sputum-scarce or sputum-negative. A LAM+ve result was associated with dTB, clinical and laboratory markers of severe illness, and TB-IRIS. Disseminated non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection of hospitalised PLWH may also yield urine LAM+ve results, and mycobacterial cultures must be checked in those non-responsive to conventional TB treatment. Selective use of the LAM test in the critically ill is likely to maximise the diagnostic yield, improve the test's predictive value, and reduce the time to TB diagnosis and initiation of treatment.

Indexed as

HIVlipoarabinomannansputum negativesputum scarceTB

Identifiers

PMID34394971
PMCPMC8335785
OpenAlexW3180462256

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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.