ABSTRACT
Background: Genital tuberculosis is an important cause of female infertility in developing countries like India. It is one of the major causes for severe tubal disease leading to infertility.Methods: A prospective study was conducted in which 100 women presented to hospital with infertility were subjected to hystero-laparoscopy over 1 year. Endometrium sent for tuberculosis polymerase chain reaction (TB-PCR) and HPE and results were formulated.Results: Out of 100 women, 28% were diagnosed with Genital tuberculosis (GTB) using accepted clinical criteria, TB-PCR and endometrial HPE. 25 of these 28 were diagnosed by hysterolaparoscopy (89.24%) alone, 16 by positive endometrial TB-PCR (57.14%) and another 2 by HPE (7.14%).Conclusions: In country like ours where TB is endemic, a multi-pronged approach to diagnosis increases the chances of successfully diagnosing this destructive disease.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Although there have been several studies regarding the clinical value of an automated TB-PCR study using sputum, bronchial washing, and other body fluid samples for the detection of pulmonary tuberculosis, there are only a few reports on the use of fresh tissue samples. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The acid-fast bacilli stain(AFB), tuberculosis culture, automated TB-PCR study, and histopathology examination were performed in 42 fresh tissue samples. RESULTS: Among the 42 cases, 18 cases were diagnosed with tuberculosis based on the clinical findings. Sixteen of the 18 cases were TB-PCR positive and of these 16 cases, only 2 cases were positive in the AFB stain or culture study. However, all 18 cases showed the histopathology findings of chronic granulomatous inflammation that was compatible with tuberculosis. Based on the clinical findings, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictability, and negative predictability of the automated TB-PCR study were 88.9%, 100%, 100%, and 92.3% respectively. CONCLUSION: An automated TB-PCR assay is an important diagnostic tool for diagnosing tuberculosis in fresh tissue samples.