Multicenter Evaluation of the Molecular Line Probe Assay for Multidrug Resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Detection in China

In order to evaluate the performance of a molecular Hain line probe assay (Hain LPA) for rapid detection of rifampicin and isoniazid resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in China, 1612 smear positive patients were consecutively enrolled in this study. Smear positive sputum specimens were collected for Hain LPA and conventional drug susceptibility testing (DST). The sensitivity and specificity of Hain LPA were analyzed by using conventional DST as golden reference. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for rifampicin resistance detection were 88.33%, 97.66%, 81.54%, and 98.62%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV for isoniazid resistance detection were 80.25%, 98.07%, 87.25%, and 96.78%, respectively. These findings suggested that Hain LPA can be an effective method worthy of broader use in China.