Sensitivity and characteristics associated with positive QuantiFERON-TB Gold-Plus assay in children with confirmed tuberculosis

BackgroundAlthough QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus), a new interferon-gamma release assay, has shown good performance in adults, little data is available in children.MethodsDe-identified data from TB-suspected patients age ResultsOf 222 children with available QFT-Plus results, 33 were classified as confirmed TB, of whom 18 had QFT-Plus (+) and 15 had QFT-Plus (-). Multiple logistic regression modeling suggested that age, history of TB, and confirmed TB were significantly associated with having a positive QFT-Plus result with an area under the ROC curve of 0.77. QFT-Plus sensitivity in PTB only, EPTB, and both PTB and EPTB patients was 84.2%, 14.3% and 14.3%, respectively. The overall sensitivity of the QFT-Plus assay (regardless PTB or EPTB) in children was 54.5%.ConclusionAlthough QFT-Plus had a good sensitivity in children having exclusive PTB, it had poor sensitivity in EPTB.