Journal Article

Diagnostic Performance of the Fujifilm SILVAMP TB-LAM in Children with Presumptive Tuberculosis

Domínguez, José, Molina-Moya, Bárbara, Narcisse, Margareth, Villar-Hernández, Raquel, Creswell, Jacob, Pérez-Porcuna, Tomás M., Gautier, Jacqueline, Sallés-Mingels, Beatriz, Cuevas, Luis E., Doresca, Mariette Jean Coute, Canales-Aliaga, Lydia, Comella-del-Barrio, Patricia

2021

Overview

Current diagnostics for tuberculosis (TB) only manage to confirm a small proportion of children with TB and require respiratory samples, which are difficult to obtain. There is a need for non-invasive biomarker-based tests as an alternative to sputum testing. Fujifilm SILVAMP TB lipoarabinomannan (FujiLAM), a lateral-flow test to detect lipoarabinomannan in urine, is a novel non-sputum-based point-of-care diagnostic reported to have increased sensitivity for the diagnosis of TB among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults. We evaluate the performance of FujiLAM in children with presumptive TB. Fifty-nine children attending a paediatric hospital in Haiti with compatible signs and symptoms of TB were examined using Xpert MTB/RIF, smear microscopy and X-rays, and classified according to the certainty of diagnosis into bacteriologically confirmed TB (n = 5), unconfirmed TB (bacteriologically negative, n = 50) and unlikely TB (n = 4). Healthy children (n = 20) were enrolled as controls. FujiLAM sensitivity and specificity were 60% and 95% among children with confirmed TB. FujiLAM’s high specificity and its characteristics as a point-of-care indicate the test has a good potential for the diagnosis of TB in children.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,MDPI
• Subject: Body mass index / Children & youth / Clinical medicine / HIV / Human immunodeficiency virus / Microscopy / Tuberculosis / Urine / X-rays