Comparison of fluorescence microscopy and Ziehl-Neelsen technique in diagnosis of tuberculosis in paediatric patients

Early diagnosis of tuberculosis is very important for therapeutic reasons and to control the spread of infection. the purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of fluorescence (fl) microscopy in comparison to ziehl-neelsen (zn) staining. a total of 103 samples were collected from paediatric tuberculosis (tb) suspects and processed using petroff' s method. the smears were subjected to zn and fl staining for the detection ofacid-fast bacilli (afb). positive smears were graded according to scale of international union against tuberculosis and lung disease and world health organisation (iuatld/who). out of 103 pulmonary and extra-pulmonary samples,7(6.8%) were positive for afb on the zn method,while the positivity increased to 9(8.7%) on the fl method. two positive samples were missed on zn staining which were found to be positive with fl microscopy; thus overall positivity increased by 2/9 (22.22%) by fl microscopy over the conventional zn method. the difference in case detection was found to be statistically significant (p<0.00). fl technique has a better diagnostic value and is less time-consuming compared to zn in diagnosing tuberculosis in paediatric patients. © 2015,pakistan medical association. all rights reserved.