Korean J Urol.  2004 Sep;45(9):924-928.

Detection of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Urine Using Polymerase Chain Reaction

• Kim KH
• Ha GY
• Lee KS

Abstract

PURPOSE: Recent developments in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology have brought an extraordinary opportunity for the rapid detection of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in clinical specimens for the diagnosis of tuberculosis. In this study, the efficacy of PCR was evaluated for detection of mycobacterial tuberculosis in urine.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
115 patients that attended the urology clinic between July 2000 and July 2003, with symptoms suggestive of genitourinary tuberculosis, were evaluated. The male to female patient ratio was 69 to 46, with a mean age of 54.2 (range 19 to 82) years. The results obtained from PCR were compared with those obtained from standard microbiological methods, acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stain and culturing.
RESULTS
A total of 11 cases were confirmed as genitourinary tuberculosis, and 2 were positive on both PCR and AFB staining, and 4 and 2 cases were positive only in PCR and AFB stain, respectively, and one case on AFB staining was negative, but positive in both PCR and AFB culturing. The sensitivity of PCR, AFB staining and culturing were 63.6, 36.4 and 9.1%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that PCR is a rapid and sensitive method for the early diagnosis of tuberculosis.

Keyword

Tuberculosis; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Diagnosis

MeSH Terms

Diagnosis
Early Diagnosis
Female
Humans
Male
Mycobacterium tuberculosis*
Mycobacterium*
Polymerase Chain Reaction*
Tuberculosis
Urology