ArticleCureus2026
Comparative Evaluation of Smear Microscopy, Xpert MTB/RIF, Löwenstein-Jensen Culture, and MGIT 960 for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary and Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis in Tangier, Morocco.
Article in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
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Abstract
Introduction Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health concern, requiring rapid and accurate diagnostic tools to improve patient management and limit transmission. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of smear microscopy, Xpert MTB/RIF, and Löwenstein-Jensen culture compared with liquid culture using the Mycobacterial Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) 960 liquid culture system as the reference standard. A secondary objective was to evaluate rifampicin resistance and compare its detection by Xpert MTB/RIF with phenotypic methods. Materials and methods A retrospective diagnostic performance study was conducted over nine months (July 2025 to March 2026), including both pulmonary and extrapulmonary samples. All specimens were processed under biosafety level 3 laboratory conditions and tested in parallel using smear microscopy, Xpert MTB/RIF, and culture on Löwenstein-Jensen medium and in the MGIT 960 liquid culture system. Diagnostic performance parameters, including sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value, were calculated using the MGIT 960 liquid culture system as the reference standard. The corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated using the exact Clopper-Pearson method. Results A total of 386 specimens were included in the analysis, comprising 233 pulmonary samples (60.4%) and 153 extrapulmonary samples (39.6%). Overall,
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