Modern possibilities of diagnostics of tuberculosis in patients with HIV infection

The problem of the steady growth of HIV-associated tuberculosis has become increasingly urgent in recent years in Russia. Diagnosis of tuberculosis is particularly difficult at the stage of severe immunodeficiency. Objective. to evaluate the effectiveness of the T-SPOT ® method.TB in the diagnosis of tuberculosis infection in patients with HIV infection. Materials and methods. in the period for 2019-2020, the T-SPOT®.TB results were analyzed in 396 patients. The criteria for inclusion in this study were the age of 18 years and older, the diagnosis of HIV infection, follow-up at the AIDS center. Results. in the group with a positive T-SPOT®.TB and changes on the computed tomogram, the verified diagnosis of tuberculosis was 90.7% of the group with both signs and 75.5% of those with a positive result T-SPOT®.TB. The group with a positive result T-SPOT®.TB and no changes on the CT scan is 16.8% of those with a positive result T-SPOT®.TB,such patients were diagnosed with „latent tuberculosis infection”. Conclusion. T-SPOT®.TB can be used in the diagnostic complex of monitoring patients with HIV infections — as a screening method that allows not only to verify the diagnosis, but also to detect latent tuberculosis.