title: Acid-fast bacilli in aspiration smears from tuberculous lymph nodes. An analysis of 255 cases.
abstract: An analysis of fine needle aspiration (FNA) smears from 255 patients with tuberculous lymphadenopathy was done. The aspirates were either purulent, cheesy or mixed with blood. A total of 56.4% of all cases aspirated showed acid-fast bacilli. Of the cases in which purulent material was aspirated, 66% were positive for acid-fast bacilli. These findings stress the importance of doing Ziehl-Neelsen staining in smears of all cases suspected of being tuberculous in etiology, particularly when purulent material is aspirated.
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D006099:Granuloma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000032:analysis; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014388:Tuberculosis, Lymph Node / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology