Comparison of the Accuracy of Two Different Molecular Tests for the Diagnosis of Tuberculous Lymphadenitis Using Core Needle Biopsy Specimens: A Diagnostic Accuracy Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Clinical Characteristics of the Included Patients

Characteristics	All (n = 114)	TBL (n = 100)	Non-TBL (n = 14)
Age (year, mean ± SD)	38.4 ± 19.0	40.0 ± 18.9	34.1 ± 21.8
Male (n, %)	50 (43.9)	45 (45.0)	5 (35.7)
HIV positive (n, %)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)
Lymph node sites (n, %)
Cervical lymph node	100 (87.7)	93 (93.0)	12 (85.7)
Axillary lymph node	9 (7.9)	7 (7.0)	2 (14.3)
Inguinal lymph node	5 (4.4)	5 (5.0)	0 (0.0)
Other sites involved of TB (n, %)
Pulmonary TB	44 (38.6)	44 (44.0)	0 (0.0)
Pleural TB	7 (6.1)	7 (7.0)	0 (0.0)
Meningeal TB	2 (1.8)	2 (2.0)	0 (0.0)

Abbreviations: TBL, tuberculous lymphadenitis; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; TB, tuberculosis.

Figure 1 Participant screening flow diagram.

Figure 2 Venn diagram of positive tests for core needle biopsy specimens.

Table 2 Accuracy of Xpert MTB/RIF, CapitalBio Test, and Parallel Test for Tuberculous Lymphadenitis Using Core Needle Biopsy Sample

Test		TBL		Sensitivity (%)	Specificity (%)	PPV (%)	NPV (%)	AUC
		Positive	Negative
CapitalBio test	Positive	65	0	65.0 (54.8–74.3)	100.0 (76.8–100.0)	100.0 (94.5–100.0)	28.6 (16.6–43.3)	0.83 (0.74–0.89)
	Negative	35	14
Xpert MTB/RIF	Positive	72	0	72.0 (62.1–80.5)	100.0 (76.8–100.0)	100.0 (95.0–100.0)	33.3 (19.6–49.6)	0.86 (0.78–0.92)
	Negative	28	14
Parallel test	Positive	82	0	82.0 (73.1–89.0)	100.0 (76.8–100.0)	100.0 (95.6–100.0)	43.8 (26.4–62.3)	0.91 (0.84–0.96)
	Negative	18	14

Abbreviations: TBL, tuberculous lymphadenitis; PPV, positive predictive value; NPV, negative predictive value; AUC, area under the curve.

Figure 3 The ROC curves of CapitalBio test, Xpert MTB/RIF, and parallel test.

Table 3 Comparison of the Diagnostic Accuracy Between Xpert MTB/RIF, the CapitalBio Test, and Parallel Test for Tuberculous Lymphadenitis Using Core Needle Biopsy Sample

Test	Sensitivity (P-value)	Specificity (P-value)	PPV (P-value)	NPV (P-value)	AUC (P-value)
Xpert vs CapitalBio test	0.287	1.000	1.000	0.624	0.510
Xpert vs Parallel test	0.093	1.000	1.000	0.360	0.258
CapitalBio test vs Parallel test	0.006	1.000	1.000	0.160	0.078

Abbreviations: PPV, positive predictive value; NPV, negative predictive value; AUC, area under the curve.