Yonsei Med J.  2007 Dec;48(6):969-972. 10.3349/ymj.2007.48.6.969.

The Value of Routinely Culturing for Tuberculosis During Bronchoscopies in an Intermediate Tuberculosis-Burden Country

• Kim MH
• Suh GY
• Chung MP
• Kim H
• Kwon OJ
• Lee JH
• Lee NY
• Koh WJ

• KMID: 1786211
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2007.48.6.969

Abstract

PURPOSE: Many medical centers routinely culture bronchoscopy samples for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, even when tuberculosis is not strongly suspected. The value of this practice, however, is controversial. We evaluated the role of that procedure in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in an intermediate tuberculosis-burden country. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective, observational study was conducted in a tertiary referral center and included 733 consecutive patients who underwent bronchoscopy examination. RESULTS: M. tuberculosis was isolated in 47 patients (6.4%). According to radiographic features, the rate of positive culture for M. tuberculosis was relatively high in patients with atelectasis (5/33, 15.2%) and those with pulmonary infiltrations of suspicious infections (26/183, 14.2%). M. tuberculosis was isolated even in patients with pulmonary masses (9/266, 3.4%) and those with pulmonary nodules (5/175, 2.9%). In 16/47 (34.0%) patients with positive cultures for M. tuberculosis, active pulmonary tuberculosis was not suspected at the time of bronchoscopy. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that routinely culturing for M. tuberculosis during bronchoscopy is still useful in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in an intermediate tuberculosis-burden country.

Keyword

Bronchoscopy; diagnosis; pulmonary tuberculosis

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Bacteriological Techniques/methods
Bronchoscopy
Female
Humans
Lung/microbiology/pathology
Lung Neoplasms/microbiology
Male
Middle Aged
Mycobacterium tuberculosis/growth & development/*isolation & purification
Prospective Studies
Pulmonary Atelectasis/microbiology
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/*diagnosis/microbiology

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