Objective  To evaluate the diagnostic value of T-cells enzyme linked immunospot (TSPOT.TB) in the children with tuberculosis.

  Methods  The clinical data was retrieved from 2 348 children who underwent TSPOT.TB test in the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2017 to December 2017. The diagnostic value of TSPOT.TB in the children with tuberculosis was analyzed.

  Results  In the diagnosis of children tuberculosis, the sensitivity of TSPOT.TB was 84.0%, the specificity was 99.1%, the positive predictive value was 93.1%, and the negative predictive value was 97.8%. To the area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of TSPOT.TB, the area under the curve (AUC) value of A antigen and B antigen were 0.893 and 0.883, respectively (P<0.05). When the number of A or B antigens was less than 50, the sensitivity was increased with the increase of puncture number, but there was no clear linear relationship. TSPOT.TB had a highly sensitivity to childhood tuberculosis when the number of A or B antigens was greater than 50. In the true positive groups of TSPOT.TB, the sensitivity of pulmonary tuberculosis group was significantly higher than that of extrapulmonary tuberculosis group (P<0.05). In addition, the sensitivity to TSPOT.TB increased with age.

  Conclusion  TSPOT.TB has high diagnostic value in the children with tuberculosis, which can rapidly assist to diagnose pediatric tuberculosis.