Abstract: Objective  To compare the difference in the auxiliary diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) with interferon-gamma release assay and tuberculin skin test (TST).  Methods  One hundred EPTB patients (called ‘TB group’ in short）hospitalized in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital and 81 cases received physical exa-mination（called ‘control group’ in short）from Jan.2012 to Jun.2012 were tested with interferon-gamma release assay and TST．The detection rates of the two methods were calculated and compared, P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results  Of 100 patients of tuberculosis group，the detection rates were 80.00% (80/100) and 46.00% (46/100) respectively for interferon-gamma release assay and TST, and the difference was statistically significant (χ²=24.80, P<0.05). Of 100 patients of tuberculosis group, 80 patients were positive in interferon-gamma release assay. Of 81 cases of control group, 21 cases were positive in interferon-gamma release assay. The difference of detection rate was statistically significant (χ²=51.76，P<0.05). Conclusion Interferon-gamma release assay has higher sensitivity and specificity than TST in auxiliary diagnosis of EPTB.

Key words: Tuberculosis/diagnosis, Interferon-gamma release tests, Tuberculin test