Rapid Diagnosis of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection by PCR

Abstract

Infections with mycobacteria are responsible worldwide for millions of new illnesses and deaths every year. In addition to the most serious pathogen, the Mycobacterium tuberculosis, infections with atypical mycobacteria of the avium complex become more and more prevalent in immunocompromised patients. The microbiological diagnosis of mycobacterial infection, however, remains a time-consuming process. The use of DNA amplification in the diagnosis of tuberculosis first described by HANCE et al. [2] would help to avoid the detrimental delay of conventional culture procedures. The intention of this study is to compare the diagnostic value of PCR with the conventional microscopic examination and culture procedures in mycobacterial infections by analysis of 216 clinical specimens from 124 patients.