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Background New diagnostic tools are urgently needed to interrupt the transmission of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Rapid, sensitive detection of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in sputum has been demonstrated in proof-of-principle studies of the microscopic-observation drug-susceptibility (MODS) assay, in which broth cultures are examined microscopically to detect characteristic growth.
Methods In an operational setting in Peru, we investigated the performance of the MODS assay for culture and drug-susceptibility testing in three target groups: unselected patients with suspected tuberculosis, prescreened patients at high risk for tuberculosis or multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, and unselected hospitalized patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. We compared the MODS assay head-to-head with two reference methods: automated mycobacterial culture and culture on Löwenstein–Jensen medium with the proportion method.
Results Of 3760 sputum samples, 401 (10.7%) yielded cultures positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Sensitivity of detection was 97.8% for MODS culture, 89.0% for automated mycobacterial culture, and 84.0% for Löwenstein–Jensen culture (P<0.001); the median time to culture positivity was 7 days, 13 days, and 26 days, respectively (P<0.001), and the median time to the results of susceptibility tests was 7 days, 22 days, and 68 days, respectively. The incremental benefit of a second MODS culture was minimal, particularly in patients at high risk for tuberculosis or multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Agreement between MODS and the reference standard for susceptibility was 100% for rifampin, 97% for isoniazid, 99% for rifampin and isoniazid (combined results for multidrug resistance), 95% for ethambutol, and 92% for streptomycin (kappa values, 1.0, 0.89, 0.93, 0.71, and 0.72, respectively).
Conclusions A single MODS culture of a sputum sample offers more rapid and sensitive detection of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis than the existing gold-standard methods used.
Source Information
From the Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunity and the Wellcome Centre for Clinical Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London, Faculty of Medicine (Hammersmith Campus), London (D.A.J.M., C.A.W.E., A.R.E., J.S.F.); Asociación Benéfica PRISMA, San Miguel (D.A.J.M., C.A.W.E., R.H.G., M.-G.H.-D., A.R.E.), Laboratorio de Investigación de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, San Martín de Porras (D.A.J.M., C.A.W.E., R.H.G., L.C., J.C., A.R.E.), Hospital Nacional General Arzobispo Loayza (A.V., Y.P.), Hospital Nacional Hipolito Unanue, El Agustino (E.S.), Dirección de Salud–III Lima Norte (Ministerio de Salud), Rimac (J.C.S.), and Dirección de Salud–IV Lima Este (Ministerio de Salud), El Agustino (C.S., D.L.) — all in Lima, Peru; the Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore (D.A.J.M., C.A.W.E., R.H.G.); and the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans (R.O.).
Address reprint requests to Dr. Moore at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunity and Wellcome Centre for Clinical Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London, Faculty of Medicine (Hammersmith Campus), DuCane Rd., London W12 0NN, United Kingdom, or at davidajmoore{at}msn.com.
Related Letters:
MODS Assay for the Diagnosis of TB
Palomino J.-C., Martin A., Portaels F., Hasan R., Irfan S., Moore D. A.J., Gilman R. H., Friedland J. S.
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N Engl J Med 2007;
356:188-189, Jan 11, 2007.
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