ArticlePLOS global public health2022
High sensitivity of ultrasound for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in adults in South Africa: A proof-of-concept study.
Article in PLOS global public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06409780 (Comparative Efficacy of Chest Ultrasound, Chest X-Ray and Computer-aided Diagnostic), which is not on this map. Cited by 5 papers.
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.
Comparative Efficacy of Chest Ultrasound, Chest X-Ray and Computer-aided Diagnostic (CAD) for Tuberculosis Diagnosis in Low-Resource Setting: A Cross-Sectional Study From Ethiopia (CUSTB)
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lung ultrasound and the interstitial syndrome in tuberculosis endemic regions: illustrated insights from diverse clinical settings.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2026Review
- Diagnostic Accuracy of Sonographic Signs of Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis and Treatment Response Monitoring in HIV-Positive and -Negative Populations.The ultrasound journal · 2026Article
- Lung and abdominal ultrasound accuracy for tuberculosis: An Indian prospective cohort study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Diagnostic Accuracy of Lung and Abdominal Ultrasound for Tuberculosis in a German Multicenter Cohort of Patients With Presumed Tuberculosis Disease.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Comparative effectiveness of chest ultrasound, chest X-ray and computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) for tuberculosis diagnosis in low-resource setting: study protocol for a cross-sectional study from Ethiopia.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere are limited data on the performance characteristics of ultrasound for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in both HIV-positive and HIV-negative persons. The objective of this proof-of-concept study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in adults.
methodsComprehensive thoracic and focused abdominal ultrasound examinations were performed by trained radiologists and pulmonologists on adults recruited from a community multimorbidity survey and a primary healthcare clinic in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Sputum samples were systematically collected from all participants. Sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound to detect tuberculosis were calculated compared to a reference standard of i) bacteriologically-confirmed tuberculosis, and ii) either bacteriologically-confirmed or radiologic tuberculosis.
resultsAmong 92 patients (53 [58%] male, mean age 41.9 [standard deviation 13.7] years, 49 [53%] HIV positive), 34 (37%) had bacteriologically-confirmed tuberculosis, 8 (9%) had radiologic tuberculosis with negative bacteriologic studies, and 50 (54%) had no evidence of active tuberculosis. Ultrasound abnormalities on either thoracic or abdominal exams were detected in 31 (91%) participants with bacteriologic tuberculosis and 27 (54%) of those without tuberculosis. Sensitivity and specificity of any ultrasound abnormality for bacteriologically-confirmed tuberculosis were 91% (95% confidence interval [CI] 76%-98%) and 46% (95% CI 32%-61%). Sensitivity and specificity of any ultrasound abnormality for either bacteriologically-confirmed or radiologic tuberculosis were 86% (95% CI 71%-95%) and 46% (95% CI 32%-61%). Overall performance did not appear to differ markedly between participants with and without HIV.
conclusionA comprehensive ultrasound scanning protocol in adults in a high TB burden setting had high sensitivity but low specificity to identify bacteriologically-confirmed tuberculosis.
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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.