Annual Congress Berlin 2008

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PG20 - Advances in the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection: an interactive, case-based course

Postgraduate Course
Chairs: A. Bossink (Bilthoven, Netherlands), C. Lange (Borstel, Germany)
Aims: Recently, advances in the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection have been made, modifying the traditional approach to diagnosis of MTB infection. This course is composed of a mixture of presentations and interactive case discussions. All speakers have recently published important papers on the specific topics discussed.
The main aim of this course is to update participants on the current advances in knowledge regarding the diagnosis of active and latent infection with MTB. At the end of the course participants will be able to:
? understand the correct methodological approach to the diagnosis of tuberculosis;
? define the different new diagnostic tools for the detection of MTB infection;
? understand the advantages of the new techniques in the diagnosis of tuberculosis in special populations;
? understand the open questions for research in this field.

Interactive case presentation 1: clinical management of active tuberculosis, including reading of chest radiographs J-P. Zellweger (Fribourg, Switzerland)
Update: T-cell interferon-gamma release assays for the diagnosis of MTB infection L. Richeldi (Modena, Italy)
Interactive case presentation 2 : differentiation between active and latent TB infection S. Arend (Leiden, Netherlands)
Outlook: Future developments for the diagnosis of MTB infection D. Goletti (Roma, Italy)