title: Renal tuberculosis: diagnosis with sonographically guided aspiration cytology.
abstract: Sonographically guided fine-needle aspiration cytology was performed in 19 patients suspected to have renal tuberculosis. This procedure enabled a diagnosis of renal tuberculosis to be made in six of seven patients with urine cultures consistently negative for acid-fast bacilli and confirmed the diagnosis in nine patients with focal renal lesions on sonography and urine cultures positive for acid-fast bacilli. The fine-needle aspiration cytologic samples were positive for acid-fast bacilli in seven (44%) of the 16 confirmed cases, and acid-fast bacilli were present in 80% of the samples containing necrotic material. Epithelioid granulomas were present in 15 (94%) of 16 patients diagnosed with renal tuberculosis. One patient had no evidence of acid-fast bacilli or epithelioid granulomas, but seminal fluid ultimately grew acid-fast bacilli. Two patients (13%) with evidence of tuberculosis had minor self-limiting complications from the fine-needle aspiration: one perirenal hematoma and one abdominal wall intramuscular hematoma. Sonographically guided fine-needle aspiration cytology is useful as a means of diagnosing renal tuberculosis in patients with urine cultures negative for acid-fast bacilli, and is of value in defining the granulomatous nature of sonographically visible lesions in patients with positive urine cultures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radio-diagnosis, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vaidyanathan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajwanshi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Indudhara
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D003581:Cytodiagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D014398:Tuberculosis, Renal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography