Diagnostic accuracy of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra for childhood tuberculosis in West Africa - a multicenter pragmatic study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of Xpert Mycobacterium Tuberculosis/rifampicin (MTB/RIF) Ultra (Ultra) for diagnosis of childhood tuberculosis (TB) within public health systems. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, children aged <15 years with presumptive pulmonary TB were consecutively recruited and evaluated for TB at tertiary-level hospitals in Benin, Mali, and Ghana. Bivariate random-effects models were used to determine the pooled sensitivity and specificity of Ultra against culture. We also estimated its diagnostic yield against a composite microbiological reference standard (cMRS) of positive culture or Ultra. RESULTS: Overall, 193 children were included in the analyses with a median (interquartile range) age of 4.0 (1.1-9.2) years, 88 (45.6%) were female, and 36 (18.7%) were HIV-positive. Thirty-one (16.1%) children had confirmed TB, 39 (20.2%) had unconfirmed TB, and 123 (63.7%) had unlikely TB. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of Ultra verified by culture were 55.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 28.0-79.0%) and 95.0% (95% CI: 88.0-98.0%), respectively. Against the cMRS, the diagnostic yield of Ultra and culture were 67.7% (95% CI: 48.6-83.3%) and 70.9% (95% CI: 51.9-85.8%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Ultra has suboptimal sensitivity in children with TB that were investigated under routine conditions in tertiary-level hospitals in three West African countries.

Cardiovascular physical examination as a screening tool for congenital heart disease in newborns at a teaching hospital in Ghana.

Objectives: To determine the usefulness of cardiovascular physical examination (CPE) as a screening tool in a low-resource setting for detecting congenital heart disease (CHD) in newborns delivered at the Maternity Unit of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Accra, Ghana. Design: A hospital-based cross-sectional study with a comparison group component. Setting: Maternity Unit of the KBTH, Accra, Ghana. Participants: Over eight months, newborns aged 1-14 days delivered at ≥ 34 weeks' gestation at the Maternity Unit, KBTH, were recruited into the study. Intervention: Each newborn was examined using a set of CPE parameters for the presence of congenital heart disease. Those with suggestive features of CHD had a confirmatory echocardiogram test. Main Outcome Measure: Abnormal CPE features and their corresponding echocardiogram findings. Results: A total of 1607 were screened, with 52 newborns showing signs of CHD on CPE, of which 20 newborns were proven on echocardiogram to have congenital heart disease. Abnormal CPE parameter that was associated with CHD was murmur (P=0.001), dysmorphism (p=0.01), newborns with chest recessions (p=0.01) and lethargy (p=0.02). CPE's sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 95%, 60.7%, 36.5% and 98,1%, respectively. The most common acyanotic CHD found was isolated atrial septal defect (ASD), followed by patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). The only cyanotic CHD found was a case of tricuspid atresia. Conclusion: Cardiovascular physical examination at birth is an effective and inexpensive screening tool for detecting CHD in newborns, which can easily be utilised in low-resource settings. Funding: None declared.