New Horizons in the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis of the Spine: The Role of Whole Genome Sequencing

ABSTRACT

Methods@#Tissues from 61 patients undergoing surgery for spinal TB underwent histologic examination, Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra, and culture and sensitivity testing. DNA from the cultured bacteria was sent for WGS. The test bacterial genome was compared to a reference strain of pulmonary TB. @*Results@#Acid-fast bacilli were observed in 9/58 specimens. Meanwhile, histology confirmed TB in all the patients. Bacilli were cultured in 28 patients (48.3%), and the average time to culture was 18.7 days. Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra was positive in 47 patients (85%). WGS was performed in 23 specimens. Overall, 45% of the strains belonged to lineage 2 (East Asian). There was one case of multidrug- resistant TB and two cases of non-tuberculous mycobacteria on WGS. We could not confirm any genomic difference between pulmonary and spinal TB strains. @*Conclusions@#Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra of tissues or pus is the investigation of choice when diagnosing spinal TB. Meanwhile, WGS can diagnose multidrug-resistant TB and non-tuberculous mycobacteria more accurately. No mutations were identified in spinal and pulmonary TB bacteria.