In vivo prediction of tuberculosis-associated cavity formation in rabbits
The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 211, Issue 3, pages 481–485
Abstract
The presence of cavitary lesions in patients with tuberculosis poses a significant clinical concern due to the risk of infectivity and the risk of antibiotic treatment failure. We describe 2 algorithms that use noninvasive positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) to predict the development of cavitary lesions in rabbits. Analysis of the PET region of interest predicted cavitary disease with 100% sensitivity and 76% specificity, and analysis of the CT region of interest predicted cavitary disease with 83.3% sensitivity and 76.9% specificity. Our results show that restricting our analysis to regions with high [(18)F]-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake provided the best combination of sensitivity and specificity.
Abstract sourceThis 2015 study evaluated PET- and CT-based imaging measures as predictors of tuberculosis-associated cavity development in rabbits. The authors reported predictive performance in a rabbit test set, while noting that the approach had been evaluated in this animal model and predicted cavitation only up to one week in advance.
Summary
The study developed and evaluated two imaging approaches using positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) in a rabbit model of tuberculosis. In the test set, PET-based analysis predicted cavitary disease with 100% sensitivity and 76% specificity; CT-based analysis yielded 83.3% sensitivity and 76.9% specificity. The authors reported that predictions were possible up to one week before cavitation. These findings concern an animal-model evaluation, not clinical validation in people.
The authors noted that the predictive window was limited to one week and that extension of the approach to other species had not been demonstrated. The published article reports the study methods, results and limitations.
Cite this work
Brian Luna, André Kubler, Christer Larsson, Brent Foster, Ulas Bagci, Daniel J. Mollura, Sanjay K. Jain, William R. Bishai (2015). In vivo prediction of tuberculosis-associated cavity formation in rabbits. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 211, Issue 3, pages 481–485 https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiu449
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