Testing for latent TB in high risk groups

Swiss Medical Weekly provided the following study into testing for latent TB in haemodialysis (HD) patients using QuantiFERON TB Gold In Tube (QFT-GIT)

In bullet form they found that

• HD patients show reliable QFT-GIT test results despite a significantly reduced cellular immune response
• QFT-GIT test performance is not dependent on HD efficacy
• QFT-GIT is more accurate than TST in HD patients in diagnosing LTBI

and concluded

An accurate diagnosis of LTBI is essential in HD-patients, especially in those awaiting transplantation, as immunosuppression dramatically increases the risk to develop TB-disease.

In this setting, IGRAs are a more reliable and powerful diagnostic tool than TST.