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STUDY PROTOCOL article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1476866
This article is part of the Research Topic Tuberculosis: Recent Updates in Basic Research, Drug Discovery and Treatment View all articles

Comparative Effictiveness of Chest Ultrasound, Chest X-Ray and Computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) for Tuberculosis Diagnosis in Low-Resource Setting: A Cross-Sectional Study from Ethiopia

Provisionally accepted
Giacomo Guido Giacomo Guido 1*Worku Nigussa Worku Nigussa 2Sergio Cotugno Sergio Cotugno 1Birhanu Kenate Sori Birhanu Kenate Sori 3Antonio Flavio Bobbio Antonio Flavio Bobbio 2Berhanu Gulo Berhanu Gulo 2Luigi Pisani Luigi Pisani 4FABIO MANENTI FABIO MANENTI 5Mulugeta Miressa Mulugeta Miressa 2Francesco Cavallin Francesco Cavallin 6Surra Abata Surra Abata 2PUTOTO GIOVANNI PUTOTO GIOVANNI 5Nicola Veronese Nicola Veronese 7Ottavia Tulone Ottavia Tulone 7Abdi Reta Abdi Reta 2Antonino Tuttolomondo Antonino Tuttolomondo 7Mario Barbagallo Mario Barbagallo 7Annalisa Saracino Annalisa Saracino 1Francesco Di Gennaro Francesco Di Gennaro 1
  • 1 Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
  • 2 Doctors with Africa CUAMM, Wolisso, Ethiopia
  • 3 Oromia Regional Health Bureau, Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  • 4 Department of Precision-Regenerative Medicine and Jonic Area (DiMePRe-J), Section of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
  • 5 Doctors with Africa CUAMM, Padova, Italy
  • 6 Independent statistician, Solagna, Italy
  • 7 Geriatric Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Early and accurate diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is crucial for timely treatment and prevention of transmission, but diagnostic challenges persist due to complex symptoms and limitations in diagnostic tools. Chest X-ray (CXR) is the standard imaging modality, but its sensitivity and specificity may vary. Recently, some promising alternatives emerged such as chest ultrasonography (CUS) -particularly valuable in resource-limited settings -and computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems -helping clinicians in the reading and interpretation of the CXR. However, direct comparisons of CUS, CXR, and CAD score in TB diagnosis are limited.This cross-sectional study will assess the diagnostic effectiveness of CUS in diagnosing TB compared to CXR and CAD score among index cases and household contacts. The study will be conducted at Wolisso St. Luke Hospital (Wolisso, Ethiopia). Index cases will be subjects with diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis within 7 days. Household contacts will be identified by administering a screening questionnaire to index cases. They will undergo CXR as for standard of care and consequent CAD analysis and CUS. The anticipated sample size is 136 subjects. The common accuracy metrics (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values) will be calculated.The protocol was approved by the Oromia Health Bureau Research Ethics Committee (BFO/MBTFH/1-16/1908). All information obtained will be confidential. Selected investigators will have access to data, while international partners will sign a dedicated Data Protection Agreement. Eligible subjects will receive a brief information about the study before being asked to participate and they will provide a written informed consent. Results will be conveyed to stakeholders and disseminated through conferences and peer-reviewed journals.

    Keywords: CAD, Tuberculosis, Chest ultrasound, Ethiopia, Africa, diagnosis, CAD4TB, pulmonary tuberculosis

    Received: 06 Aug 2024; Accepted: 14 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Guido, Nigussa, Cotugno, Kenate Sori, Bobbio, Gulo, Pisani, MANENTI, Miressa, Cavallin, Abata, GIOVANNI, Veronese, Tulone, Reta, Tuttolomondo, Barbagallo, Saracino and Di Gennaro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Giacomo Guido, Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Department of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, 70121, Italy

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.