Diagnosis of concurrent pulmonary tuberculosis and tuberculous otitis media confirmed by Xpert MTB/RIF in the United States

Kathleen M. Tompkins, Melissa A. Reimers, Becky L. White, Michael E. Herce

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains an important cause of infectious morbidity in the United States, necessitating timely and accurate diagnosis. We report a case of concurrent pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB presenting as tuberculous otitis media in a hospitalized US patient admitted with cough, night sweats, and unilateral purulent otorrhea. Diagnosis was made by smear microscopy and rapidly confirmed by Xpert MTB/RIF - a novel, automated nucleic acid amplification test for the rapid detection of drug-susceptible and drug-resistant TB. This case adds to the growing body of evidence validating Xpert MTB/RIF as an effective tool for the rapid diagnosis of extrapulmonary TB, even in low-TB prevalence settings such as the United States, when testing is performed on nonrespiratory specimens.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)180-182
Number of pages3
JournalInfectious Diseases in Clinical Practice
Volume24
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2016

Keywords

  • Xpert
  • chronic otitis media
  • extrapulmonary tuberculosis
  • nucleic acid amplification test
  • otorrhea

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