Diagnosis of Tuberculous Cervical Lymphadenitis Using Polymerase Chain Reaction.

Kim, Hojoong; Hyun, In Kyu; Lee, Myoung Koo; Jung, Ki Suck; Ahn, Hye Kyung

doi:1995.42.1.35

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 42(1); 1995 > Article

Original Article

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 1995;42(1):35-41.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.1995.42.1.35 Published online February 1, 1995.

Diagnosis of Tuberculous Cervical Lymphadenitis Using Polymerase Chain Reaction.

Hojoong Kim, In Kyu Hyun, Myoung Koo Lee, Ki Suck Jung, Hye Kyung Ahn

¹Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
²Department of Pathology, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis can be diagnosed by clinical findings, chest X-ray, Mantoux test, but confirmed only by excisional biopsy. The polymerase chain reaction(PCR) is now widely applied to test very small amount of pathogen and would be used to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in biopsied tissues and fine needle aspirates. METHOD: We carried out the PCR using IS-1 and IS-2 primers in 16 samples from tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis patients, and 13 samples from non-tuberculous cervical lymphadenopathy patients. Acid fast staining and culture for Mycobacterium were all negative. RESULTS: All of 8 pathologically confirmed tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis samples showed positive PCR results, and of 5/8 clinically diagnosed samples were positive. None of 6 pathologically excluded samples were positive, and among 7 clinically undiagnosed samples 2 showed positive PCR results. CONCLUSION: In patients with suspected tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis, PCR could be used to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis using biopsied tissues and even fine needle aspirates with good sensitivity and specificity.

Key Words: Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis, PCR, Fine needle aspiration