Publication
Title
Role of empiric treatment in hospitalized patients with Xpert MTB/RIF-negative presumptive pulmonary tuberculosis: A prospective cohort study
Author
Abstract
Objectives: The ability of clinical algorithms to identify tuberculosis disease and the impact of empiric treatment on survival in people with a negative Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) result remains poorly documented. Methods: Hospitalized Xpert-negative patients (125 initiated on empiric tuberculosis treatment based on a clinical algorithm and 125 in whom tuberculosis treatment was not started) were enrolled. Sputum samples were evaluated for Mycobacterium tuberculosis by culture. All study participants were followed up for 6 months. Results: Xpert-negative inpatients in whom empiric tuberculosis treatment was initiated were more likely to have microbiological confirmed tuberculosis compared to those in whom empiric tuberculosis treatment was not started (24.8% vs 6.4%, p = 0.0001). Six-month risk of death was 5.2%, but the risk was twice as high in people with bacteriological confirmation of TB (10.3% vs 4.3%, p = 0.12). Cardinal symptoms of TB were associated with bacteriological confirmation and a decision to start empiric treatment. The positive predictive value of the clinical algorithm was 24.8% and empiric treatment did not affect 6-month risk of death (5.6% vs 4.8%, p = 0.78). Conclusions: Clinical algorithm identifies the majority of confirmed tuberculosis cases among Xper-tnegative inpatients. Empiric treatment did not impact survival and resulted in substantial overtreatment. The more sensitive Xpert Ultra assay should be used to eliminate the need for empiric tuberculosis treatment. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncnd/4.0/).
Language
English
Source (journal)
International journal of infectious diseases / International Society for Infectious Diseases. - Hamilton, Ont.
Publication
Hamilton, Ont. : 2020
ISSN
1201-9712
1878-3511
DOI
10.1016/J.IJID.2020.06.011
Volume/pages
97 (2020) , p. 30-37
ISI
000552696000008
Pubmed ID
32526390
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 14.09.2020
Last edited 03.12.2024
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