title: Tuberculosis and the surgeon.
abstract: With the resurgence of active tuberculosis in the United States, surgeons may be called upon to participate in the management of primary tuberculosis as well as major complications of the disease. To define the role of surgery in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in the 1990s, a 5-year retrospective review of 121 tuberculosis patients requiring invasive procedures in the course of their work-up was performed. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was cultured in 68% of patients, and atypical mycobacteria in 19%. Tissue was required to achieve the definitive diagnosis in 36%. Of the 93 patients with pulmonary evidence of tuberculosis, 54% presented with a pulmonary complication, 19 of whom required operative intervention. Extrapulmonary tuberculosis affected 45% of patients, including nine with miliary tuberculosis. Patients testing seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus accounted for 11% of the patients seen, emphasizing that the re-emergence of tuberculosis is not confined to the immunosuppressed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Langdale
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meissner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nolan
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Ashbaugh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*