Impact of introduction of Xpert MTB/RIF test on tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis in a city with high TB incidence in Brazil

BACKGROUND: Xpert MTB/RIF is increasingly used in many countries as the initial diagnostic test for tuberculosis (TB). Few studies have evaluated the effect of Xpert on TB diagnosis under programmatic conditions in Brazil. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of introduction of Xpert MTB/RIF on TB diagnosis in a city with high TB incidence in Brazil. METHODS: We included patients evaluated with conventional diagnostic tests during one year before Xpert introduction (pre-Xpert group) and patients evaluated using Xpert during one year after the test introduction (post-Xpert group). RESULTS: 620 patients met the inclusion criteria (208 in the pre-Xpert group and 412 in the post-Xpert group) and were included in the analysis. The time until TB diagnosis was shorter in post-Xpert group (0.7 day, IQR: 0.5–1.0 day) than in pre-Xpert group (2.0 days, IQR: 2.0–2.0 days) (p<0.0001). Atypical disease characteristics, such as less weight loss, fever, dyspnea, night sweats, and hemoptysis; a negative sputum smear; a negative culture, and a chest X-ray atypical of TB were more common in post-Xpert group than in pre-Xpert group (p<0.0001 for all). CONCLUSIONS: We found that the implementation of the Xpert MTB/RIF assay, under programmatic conditions, improve and facilitate TB diagnosis, especially in cases with atypical disease manifestations. These results are likely to be generalizable to settings with a similar high TB incidence.