Ligase chain reaction amplification (LCx Abbott Laboratories) was used to detect the presence of M. tuberculosis in 101 adenopathy specimens obtained from 98 patients. A total of 30 cases of lymph node tuberculosis were diagnosed, and the data were compared with results obtained using conventional techniques. The sensitivity of auramine staining and culture were 50.0% and 66.7%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the LCx assay were 80.0, 98.6, 96.0, and 92.1% respectively. The results confirm the reliability of ligase chain reaction amplification for the detection of lymph node tuberculosis.