Tuberc Respir Dis TRD Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 1738-3536 2005-6184 The Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 10.4046/trd.2010.68.6.345 Original Article Significance of Repeated Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Testing for Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Kim Soo-Ok M.D. 1 Kim Yoon-Hee M.D. 2 Chi Su-Young M.D. 2 Ban Hee-Jung M.D. 2 Oh In-Jae M.D. 2 Kwon Yong-Soo M.D. 2 Kim Kyu-Sik M.D. 2 Kim Yu-Il M.D. 2 Lim Sung-Chul M.D. 2 Kim Young-Chul M.D. 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Seonam University Medical School, Namwon, Korea. Department of Internal Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea. Address for correspondence: In-Jae Oh, M.D. Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, 8, Hak-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju 501-757, Korea. Phone: 82-61-379-7617, Fax: 82-61-379-7619, droij@chonnam.ac.kr 06 2010 30 06 2010 68 6 345 349 03 05 2010 07 06 2010 Copyright © 2010. The Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases. All rights reserved. 2010 Background

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test is important for the confirmatory diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to analyze the yield of repeated PCR testing in patients with confirmed pulmonary TB.

 Methods

The medical records of 130 patients, who had more than two consecutive PCR tests and a M. tuberculosis-positive sputum culture from August, 2006 to December, 2007, were retrospectively reviewed for the purposes of this study. A positive TB-PCR test was defined as at least one positive test result.

 Results

The cumulative positive PCR test rate was 80% (104/130), with gradually increasing rates of positive findings upon the first, second and third TB-PCR tests with 52.3%, 68.5% and 75.4%, respectively. However, further testing did not increase the positive rate further.

 Conclusion

Repeated PCR testing at least three times for M. tuberculosis is helpful for diagnosis of pulmonary TB.

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Statistical analysis by binomial test. Trends of cumulative positive rate by number of tuberculosis-polymerase chain reaction (TB-PCR) trials. Difference with cumulative positive rate by trial times were verified by the binomial test. The difference in the rates between the first and second trials was significant (p<0.001), the difference between the second and third trials was borderline significant (p=0.055), whereas the difference between the third and fourth trials was statistically insignificant.

Cumulative positive rate of repeated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing

Cross table of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results by AFB stain results

Values are presented as number (%).