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REVIEW (Open Access)

Meta-analysis of the Cepheid Xpert® CT/NG assay for extragenital detection of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infections

Claire C. Bristow A D , Sheldon R. Morris A , Susan J. Little A , Sanjay R. Mehta A and Jeffrey D. Klausner B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.

B Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

C Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

D Corresponding author. Email: cbristow@ucsd.edu

Sexual Health 16(4) 314-319 https://doi.org/10.1071/SH18079
Submitted: 12 April 2018  Accepted: 7 March 2019   Published: 12 July 2019

Journal Compilation © CSIRO 2019 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND

Abstract

Background: Most studies evaluating extragenital testing performance for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) detection by the Xpert® CT/NG show high per cent agreement with comparison assays; however, the precision around positive per cent agreement is low and thus the values that have been reported are not highly informative. Therefore, a systematic review was conducted and data from five studies were combined to better assess positive per cent agreement. Methods: The literature indexed on PubMed.gov was searched. Included studies were those that were an evaluation of the Xpert CT/NG assay with rectal and/or pharyngeal specimen types compared with another nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), the Aptima transcription mediated amplification assay. A full Bayesian method was used for bivariate fixed-effect meta-analysis of positive and negative per cent agreement and pooled estimates (and 95% confidence intervals (CI)) were presented for each. Results: The pooled positive and negative per cent agreement for detection of CT in rectal specimens was 89.72% (95% CI: 84.97%, 93.64%) and 99.23% (95% CI: 98.74%, 99.60%), and in pharyngeal specimens, they were 89.96% (95% CI: 66.38%, 99.72%) and 99.62% (95% CI: 98.95%, 99.95%) respectively. For NG detection in rectal specimens, the pooled positive and negative per cent agreement was 92.75% (95% CI: 87.91%, 96.46%) and 99.75% (95% CI: 99.46%, 99.93%), and in pharyngeal specimens, they were 92.51% (95% CI: 85.84%, 97.18%) and 98.56% (95% CI: 97.69%, 99.23%) respectively. Conclusions: It was found that the Xpert CT/NG assay performed similarly to the Aptima transcription mediated amplification assay for the detection of CT and NG in extragenital specimens. The Xpert assay has the benefit of providing faster results at the point-of-care, thus reducing the turnaround time for results, potentially enabling same-day treatment.

Additional keywords: diagnosis, nucleic acid amplification test, pharyngeal, rectal.


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