A systematic review of commercial serological antibody detection tests for the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis.

ABSTRACT: Conventional diagnostic tests for tuberculosis have several limitations and are often unhelpful in establishing the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Although commercial serological antibody based tests are available, their usefulness in the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis is unknown. A systematic review was conducted to assess the accuracy of commercial serological antibody detection tests for the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. In a comprehensive search, 21 studies that reported data on sensitivity and specificity for extrapulmonary tuberculosis were identified. These studies evaluated seven different commercial tests, with Anda-TB IgG accounting for 48% of the studies. The results showed that (1) all commercial tests provided highly variable estimates of sensi

SUBMITTER: Steingart KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2094240 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature