Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB). TB is the second leading cause of death after HIV worldwide. GeneXpert MTB/RIF (Xpert; Cepheid, USA) is a fully automated real time hemi-nested PCR system which simultaneously detects Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB) genome as well as mutations that confer rifampicin resistance. Hence, the aim of the present study is to assess the sensitivity and specificity of GeneXpert MTB/RIF in the detection of M. tuberculosis in cases of Extrapulmonary tuberculosis and to detect the proportion of rifampicin resistance in samples of Extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Materials & Methods: A total of 120 patients were studied. Extrapulmonary samples were collected in a standard sterile container. Diagnosis of EPTB was considered on the basis of clinical and radiological examination; and biochemical and cytological testing. Each sample was divided into three parts: one for Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) smear, one for LJ media culture and one for GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS V. 20.0.0.  Results: Positive result on L-J culture media were found to be present in 54.16 percent of the patients (65 patients), while negative results were found to be present in 45.8 percent of the patients (55 patients). Positive result on GeneXpert MTB/RIF were found to be present in 40.83 percent of the patients (49 patients), while negative results were found to be present in 59.16 percent of the patients (71 patients). Out of 49positive patients of GeneXpert MTB/RIF, Rifampicin sensitivity was found to be present in 46 patients (93.88 percent), while rifampicin resistance was found to be present in 3 patients (6.12 percent). Conclusion: The use of GeneXpert test is effective in routine for diagnosis of extrapulmonary TB, especially for pus and CSF samples where a very high detection rate was observed as compared to conventional techniques.
Key Words: Extrapulmoanry Tuberculosis, GeneXpert, Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Received: 2 June, 2019                                       Revised: 15 June, 2019                             Accepted: 25 June, 2019

Corresponding author: Dr. S. K. Bansal, Professor, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Kanti Devi Medical College, Mathura, U.P, India

This article may be cited as: Singh K, Ahir GC, Bansal SK. Rapid Detection of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis and Rifampicin Resistance in Clinically Suspected Cases of Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis Using Gene Xpert MTB/RIF Assay. Int J Res Health Allied Sci 2019; 5(3):81-84.