Evaluation of PCR Using TRC 4 and IS 6110 Primers in Detection of Tuberculous Meningitis

Abstract
We have evaluated a new set of primers (TRC 4 ) in comparison with the IS 6110 primers commonly used in PCR to detect tuberculous meningitis among children. The levels of concordance between the results of IS 6110 PCR and TRC 4 PCR with cerebrospinal fluid specimens from patients with clinically confirmed tuberculous meningitis were 80 and 86%, respectively. Results with the two primer sets were concordant for 55 positive and 22 negative specimens ( n = 98). We conclude that the sensitivity of PCR can be increased by using both IS 6110 and TRC 4 primers.