Application of fibrous materials in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis

Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is a non-suppurative inflammatory disease of meninges and meninges caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), with high mortality. Traditional methods for laboratory detection of MTB are less sensitive and time-consuming. Some fibrous materials like silica fiber in GeneXpert MTB/RIF kit and paper fiber in acid-fast staining were used for clinical diagnosis of TBM. These detection methods were compared and analyzed. The results showed that the sensitivities of the 3 detection methods were 28.81%, 16.95% and 37.29%, respectively, and the specificity were all 100%, based on clinical diagnosis. The diagnostic efficiency of GeneXpert MTB/RIF technique was significantly better than that of culture method (chi(2) = 6.174, P = 0.013). Although there was no statistically significant difference when compared with acid-fast staining (chi(2) = 0.957, P = 0.328), the GeneXpert MTB/RIF technique has the advantage of accurately distinguishing MTB from non-MTB. The above results indicate that GeneXpert MTB/RIF technique has advantage of high sensitivity, high specificity, accuracy and simple operation. The detection time is short to 2 h, which is greatly shortened compared with 4-8 weeks for Rochelle solid culture method. The fibrous materials have high application value for the diagnosis of TBM.