Potential use of Amplicor PCR kit in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis from gastric aspirate.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of mycobacteria from gastric aspirate for the diagnosis of tuberculosis is not fully evaluated up to now. A total of 116 gastric aspirate specimens were collected from patients with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis. The breakdown of diagnosis was 67 pulmonary tuberculosis, 16 nontuberculous mycobacterial infection, 5 extra pulmonary tuberculosis, and 28 other lung diseases. The conventional methods were shown to have a sensitivity of 47.8% and a specificity of 79.6%; on the other hand, Amplicor had 34.9% and 97.0%, respectively. The Amplicor provided a more rapid and specific method for diagnosing tuberculosis and was more useful than the conventional.