Comparative analysis of diagnostic efficacy of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and CBNAAT in children with suspected tubercular meningitis: a cross-sectional study

Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) poses a diagnostic challenge in children. The available conventional diagnostic methods have low sensitivity. Cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT) requires suitable infrastructure and technical expertise. TB loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is being increasingly used for the diagnosis of TBM. Few studies have been done in children. We compared the diagnostic efficacy of CBNAAT and LAMP in 50 cases of clinically suspected TBM. LAMP had higher sensitivity (62.50%) but lower specificity (84.62%) than CBNAAT (sensitivity 41.67% and specificity 100.00%). The two tests have moderate agreement with a Cohen's kappa value of 0.48. LAMP is a rapid and sensitive test for resource-limited settings.