Value of tuberculous infection of T cells spot test in adult pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis

Objective To evaluate the value of an interferon-gamma release assay-tuberculous infection of T cells spot test (T-SPOT.TB) in adult pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis. Methods T-SPOT.TB was conducted in 74 suspected pulmonary TB cases by using their peripheral blood in our hospital from March to December 2011. The T-SPOT.TB results were compared with the final diagnoses as well as the results of PPD test. Results The sensitivity and specificity of T-SPOT.TB test were 93.5% and 92.1% respectively. The positive rate of T-SPOT.TB test was significantly higher than that of PPD test (45.2%) in adult pulmonary TB diagnosis (PConclusion T-SPOT.TB has higher sensitivity and specificity than other traditional methods such as PPD test and could be widely used in hospitals.