Assessment of Endometrial Specimens for Tubercular Infection among Infertile Women using DNA-PCR

Introduction: Genital Tuberculosis (GTB) is an important cause of infertility in developing countries like India. Diagnostic dilemma arises because of atypical clinical presentation, different results on imaging and mixed bag of bacteriological and serological tests such as routine microbiological tests such as Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) staining and culture are of little significance because of its Paucibacillary nature. Specific and rapid diagnosis using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), early anti-tuberculous treatment and appropriate surgical interventions can improve the results for restoration of female reproductive functions and reduction of procedural and postoperative complications. Aim: To assess the diagnostic performance of PCR, AFB culture and staining in infertility due to Female Genital Tuberculosis (FGTB). Materials and Methods: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted in Microbiology Department of Tertiary Care Hospital, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. Relevant clinical specimens were collected using standard procedures from 50 infertile women satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria; and were evaluated by AFB staining, culture and TB-PCR.Categorical variables were compared using Chisquare test. A p-value