Adenosine deaminase from the cerebrospinal fluid for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis: A meta‐analysis

Abstract

Objective

To comprehensively evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of adenosine deaminase in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for tuberculous meningitis (TBM), and the potential influence of patients' age groups and cutoffs of measured adenosine deaminase.

Methods

Systematic review and meta‐analysis of relevant studies retrieved from PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases. Pooled sensitivity and specificity were calculated with a random‐effect model.

Results

Overall, 43 studies with 1653 patients with TBM and 3417 controls without were included. Pooled results showed that adenosine deaminase in CSF is associated with satisfactory diagnostic efficacy for TBM, with a pooled sensitivity of 0.86 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.82–0.90), specificity of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.86–0.91), positive likelihood ratio of 7.70 (95% CI: 6.16–9.63), and negative likelihood ratio of 0.15 (95% CI: 0.12–0.20). The pooled receiver operating characteristic (AUC) was 0.94 (95% CI: 0.91–0.96), suggesting good performance. Subgroup analyses showed good diagnostic efficacies of adenosine deaminase in CSF for both adults (AUC 0.95) and children (AUC 0.96) with TBM. AUCs indicating the diagnostic accuracies of adenosine deaminase in CSF for TBM were 0.93 for studies with cutoffs <10 U/L and and 0.94 for a cutoff =10 U/L, but only 0.90 for studies with cutoffs >10 U/L.

Conclusions

Measuring adenosine deaminase of CSF shows satisfactory diagnostic efficacy for TBM in children and adults, particularly if using a cutoff ≤10 U/L.