Diagnostic techniques in paediatric tuberculosis.

Accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in children is crucial to provide effective treatment and to identify the undiagnosed adult who probably infected the child. The diagnosis of tuberculosis in children is often based only on epidemiologic, clinical, and radiographic findings. Fibre-optic bronchoscopy may also be helpful but the recovery of tuberculous bacilli, which establishes the diagnosis, is difficult in children. Rapid diagnostic tests such as direct amplification and serological tests have been developed to improve early diagnosis. Their sensitivity is higher than that of conventional mycobacterial culture in most paediatric studies.