Comparison of menstrual blood and endometrial biopsy as specimens in the diagnosis of female genital tuberculosis: a systematic review
BMC Infectious Diseases·
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12879-026-12564-8
- PMID
- 41612277
- PMCID
- PMC12924429
- OpenAlex
- W7126115365
- Study type
- Systematic review
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
Female genital tuberculosis remains a significant global problem. Menstrual blood represents a non-invasive alternative to endometrial biopsy, which is invasive and causes patient discomfort, potentially improving diagnostic accessibility.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
This systematic review assessed whether menstrual blood could serve as an alternative diagnostic specimen to endometrial biopsy for detecting female genital tuberculosis.
Study design
Systematic review of nine original studies comparing menstrual blood and endometrial biopsy specimens for female genital tuberculosis diagnosis. Literature search covered PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase through September 2024.
Population and setting
Females undergoing diagnostic evaluation for genital tuberculosis. Specific geographic settings and sample sizes were not reported in the abstract.
Main findings
Menstrual blood sensitivity ranged from 33.3% to 91.7% and specificity from 82.9% to 97.3%. Endometrial biopsy sensitivity ranged from 64.8% to 95.8% and specificity from 84.3% to 97.5%. The specificity of menstrual blood testing was comparable to endometrial biopsy.
Public-health relevance
Female genital tuberculosis remains a significant global problem. Menstrual blood represents a non-invasive alternative to endometrial biopsy, which is invasive and causes patient discomfort, potentially improving diagnostic accessibility.
Important limitations
The abstract did not report specific study limitations, heterogeneity assessments, or quality appraisals of included studies. This summary relies on abstract-level data only and requires review of the full article for decision-grade interpretation of methodological quality and generalizability.
GIDS interpretation
The tuberculosis disease link enables discoverability through established infectious disease surveillance pathways. The diagnostic and treatment topic classifications reflect the paper's focus on clinical specimen comparison rather than epidemiological trends.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 7 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.