Evaluation of Fine-needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) Sensitivity Compared to PCR for Diagnosing Tuberculosis Lymphadenitis
Abstract
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major healthcare burden in Sudan and other
developing countries, it is considered the second most common cause of death
from infectious diseases after those due to AIDS. In Sudan, TB lymphadenitis (TBLA)
remains one of the major health problems. This descriptive cross-sectional study was
conducted at the University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST) and Total
Labcare Diagnostic Center (TDC). The study aims to compare the sensitivity of Fine
Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) smears with that of the Polymerase Chain Reaction
(PCR) for the diagnosis of TBLA.
Methods: Fifty-five dry smears were obtained using fine-needle aspiration (FNA) from
an enlarged lymph node. PCR was applied to detect the target gene (IS6110). MayGrunwald-Giemsa (MGG) or Diff quick stains were used.
Results: Two (4%) patients with TBLA were non-necrotic, while fifty-three of them
(96%) were necrotic. Moreover, 17 (30%) fine-needle lymph node aspiration specimens
were confirmed by PCR to be positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB
complex) while 38 (70%) of them were negative.
Conclusion: There was no significant difference between the sensitivity of PCR and
that of FNAC (P-value = 0.33).
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