Significance of bronchial washings smear negativity in 'suspect' pulmonary tuberculosis.
The role of bronchial washings in patients with 'suspect' pulmonary tuberculosis was studied in 55 patients. Bronchial washings increased the diagnostic yield of tuberculosis by 28%. It was also able to accurately exclude active tuberculosis in 94% patients. Hence it is inferred that absence of acid-fast bacilli in smears of bronchial washings is equally important to exclude active tuberculosis.
Rao
S
S
Department of Tuberculosis & Chest Diseases, KMC Hospital, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000382:microbiology*; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000382:microbiology*