Volume 13, Number 4—April 2007
Research
Diagnosis of Tuberculosis by an Enzyme-Linked Immunospot Assay for Interferon-γ
Jann-Yuan Wang, Chien-Hong Chou, Li-Na Lee, Hsiao-Leng Hsu, I-Shiow Jan, Po-Ren Hsueh
, Chuan-Liang Kao, and Kwen-Tay Luh
, Chuan-Liang Kao, and Kwen-Tay LuhTable 1
Clinical characteristics of 65 patients suspected of having tuberculosis, Taiwan, 2005*
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Mean age, y (range) | 52.2 (2–84) |
| Male:female (% male) | 37:28 (56.9) |
| Underlying medical condition | 35 (53.8) |
| Malignancy | 17 (26.2) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 12 (18.5) |
| Other† | 11 (16.9) |
| Symptoms‡ | |
| Cough or dyspnea [no. with hemoptysis] | 44 (67.7) [2] |
| Fever | 35 (53.8) |
| Mean duration of symptoms (range) | 23.4 wk (2 wk– 5 y) |
| Radiographic finding | |
| Upper lobe fibroexudative lesions [no. with cavitation] | 25 (38.5) [2] |
| Multiple patches of alveolar infiltrates [no. with cavitation] | 20 (30.8) [1] |
| Multiple nodules or mass [no. with cavitation] | 10 (15.4) [3] |
| Upper lobe fibrotic change | 5 (7.7) |
| Pleural effusion [no. with upper lobe fibrotic change] | 3 (4.6) [1] |
| Miliary lesion | 2 (3.1) |
| Acid-fast smear positive | 33 (50.8) |
| Mycobacterial culture | 48 (73.8) |
| Mycobacterium tuberculosis | 37 (56.9) |
| M. avium-intracellulare complex | 2 (3.1) |
| M. chelonae | 2 (3.1) |
| M. abscessus and M. chelonae | 2 (3.1) |
| M. abscessus | 1 (1.5) |
| M. marinum | 1 (1.5) |
| M. kansasii | 1 (1.5) |
| Unidentified species | 2 (3.1) |
*Values are no. (%) unless otherwise indicated.
†Underlying disease was alcoholism in 4 patients, AIDS in 3 patients, end-stage renal disease in 2 patients, Sjogren syndrome in
1 patient, and hepatitis B-related liver cirrhosis in 1 patient.
‡Two patients were asymptomatic and had abnormal chest radiographs noted incidentally.
