Abstract: Objective  To establish a rapid detection process of M. tuberculosis DNA in stool specimens of children using real-time fluorescence PCR and investigate its clinical diagnostic value.  Methods  We collected 76 stool specimens of hospitalized children with pulmonary tuberculosis and detected the M. tuberculosis DNA using real-time PCR to compare the results with the PCR results of 20 stool samples of children with other pulmonary diseases, 76 stool smear results and 41 sputum samples’ smear and (or) culture, and real-time PCR results.  Results  The sensitivity of real-time PCR in stool samples was 23.68%(18/76), and the specificity is 100.00%（20/20）. The positive rate of stool PCR (23.68%,18/76) was significantly higher than the smear test (6.58%,5/76). The number of cases tested positive from sputum smear and (or) culture (15 cases) and sputum PCR (18 cases) were larger than the number of cases tested positive from fecal PCR (11 cases).  Conclusion  Using real-time PCR to find TB-DNA in stool samples of children, is a highly specific, moderately sensitive, non-invasive and relatively safe method for the diagnosis of children pulmonary tuberculosis.

Key words: Tuberculosis,pulmonary/diagnosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, DNA,bacterial, Feces, Polymerase chain reaction, Child