Mantoux

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A test used to determine if a person has been exposed to tuberculosis, usually involving an intradermal injection of tuberculin
2. A diagnostic procedure where tuberculin is injected into the skin to assess immunity to tuberculosis infection
3. A method for tuberculosis screening that evaluates the skin's reaction to an injected antigen derived from the bacteria causing the disease

Etymology: Mantoux is named after Charles Mantoux, a French physician who refined the skin test for tuberculosis in the early twentieth century. The test itself predates him: in 1908 Clemens von Pirquet, an Austrian paediatrician, had introduced a scratch-based method for detecting tuberculosis sensitivity, and Mantoux's contribution was to switch to an intradermal injection, which gave a more consistent and measurable reaction. The name therefore attaches to a technique he improved rather than one he invented, and it is the injected form that has carried his name ever since. The procedure uses purified protein derivative, a preparation made from tuberculosis bacteria, which is injected just under the skin of the forearm. A reaction is read after a set number of days by measuring the induration, the firm raised swelling, rather than the redness, since the hardened area is the more reliable sign of immune response. Because the word is a surname, it is capitalised in some references and lowercased in others, a difference that reflects usage rather than any change in its origin.

Synonyms: tuberculin test, PPD test, tuberculosis skin test, Mantoux test