Automated chest-radiography as a triage for Xpert testing in resource-constrained settings: a prospective study of diagnostic accuracy and costs.

ABSTRACT: Molecular tests hold great potential for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis, but are costly, time consuming, and HIV-infected patients are often sputum scarce. Therefore, alternative approaches are needed. We evaluated automated digital chest radiography (ACR) as a rapid and cheap pre-screen test prior to Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert). 388 suspected TB subjects underwent chest radiography, Xpert and sputum culture testing. Radiographs were analysed by computer software (CAD4TB) and specialist readers, and abnormality scores were allocated. A triage algorithm was simulated in which subjects with a score above a threshold underwent Xpert. We computed sensitivity, specificity, cost per screened subject (CSS), cost per notified TB case (CNTBC) and throughput for different diagnostic thresholds. 18.3% of subj

SUBMITTER: Philipsen RH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4515744 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature