Utility of PCR in the Diagnosis of Female Genital Tuberculosis

Genital tuberculosis (GTB) is one of the major causes of infertility among females. Since the infection is asymptomatic in most of the cases, it makes the clinical diagnosis quite difficult. We report a case of a 24 years old female with infertility that was discovered to have endometrial tuberculosis, detected by PCR using IS6110. The culture report was negative and histopathological examination indecisive. She was given anti-TB therapy and subsequently had a pregnancy with a live birth. Although conventional methods like culture on Lowenstein-Jensen medium and histopathology are important in the diagnosis of such cases but the molecular methods like PCR can be a highly useful aid in the establishment of a rapid and early diagnosis of genital and other forms of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis.