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BackgroundThe diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in liver transplantation candidates (LTC) is not well defined. Objective To evaluate the usefulness of the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) compared with the tuberculin skin test (TST) for the diagnosis of LTBI and its risk factors in LTC. Patients and methodsPatients were assessed for LTBI by TST using a purified protein derivative (PPD) or with QFT-GIT. LTBI was defined as either a positive TST or a positive QFT-GIT test. ResultsOf the 97 patients who underwent TST, 19 (19.59%) had a positive result. With the QFT-GIT test, 25 patients (25.77%) had a positive result and seven (7.22%) had an indeterminate result. The clinical risk factors for TB infection were identified in only two of the 19 TST-positive patients (10.5%) but were detected in six (24%) of QFT-GITpositive patients and none of the QFT-GIT-indeterminate patients. The QFT-GIT test showed a sensitivity of 89%, a specificity of 89%, an accuracy of 89%, positive and negative predictive values of 68 and 97%, respectively. Out of the 10 patients with discordant results between both the tests, two patients had a positive TST but negative QFT-GIT, and no clinical risk factors for LTBI were found. Eight patients had a negative TST but positive QFT-GIT; of these, the clinical risk factors for LTBI were observed in two patients (25%). ConclusionThis study showed that the QFT-GIT test might be more useful for the diagnosis of LTBI than TST among LTC on the basis of the frequency of clinical risk factors.

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International Journal of Case Reports and Images (IJCRI) is an international, peer reviewed, monthly, open access, online journal, publishing high-quality, articles in all areas of basic medical sciences and clinical specialties.Aim of IJCRI is to encourage the publication of new information by providing a platform for reporting of unique, unusual and rare cases which enhance understanding of disease process, its diagnosis, management and clinico-pathologic correlations.IJCRI publishes Review Articles, Case Series, Case Reports, Case in Images, Clinical Images and Letters to Editor.