Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: The present study was conducted for assessing the pattern of drug resistance in sputum positive smear cases of pulmonary tuberculosis using Line probe assay. Materials & methods: Patients with potential symptoms suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis and history of treatment with antituberculosis drugs reported to Chest and T.B department. Hence, study was conducted on sputum smear positive previously treated pulmonary TB patients and follow up sputum smear positive new pulmonary TB patients. 100 patients were included in this study. All sputum smear positive cases with previous history of treatment with first line antituberculosis drugs were instructed to collect sputum sample in a sterile, leak proof falcon tube. The samples were immediately sent to Intermediate Reference Laboratory, Patiala for Line Probe Assay, as per guidelines. All the data were compiled in Microsoft excel sheet and were analysed by SPSS software. Fischer’s exact t test was used for assessment of level of significance. P- value of less than 0.05 was taken as significant. Results: Isoniazid (H): Sensitive, Rifampicin (R): Sensitive was found to be present in 48 percent of the patients, while R: Sensitive, H: Resistant was found to be present in 29 percent of the patients. H: Sensitive, R: Resistant was found to be present in 7 percent of the patients while H: Sensitive, R: Sensitive was found to be present in 15 percent of the patients. Conclusion: Line probe assay is a rapid and accurate tool for identification of drug resistance in pulmonary tuberculosis patients.