title: Diagnostic yield of post-bronchoscopy sputum smear in pulmonary tuberculosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The early definitive diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is important for control of the disease in the community. We performed this study to evaluate the additional gain of post-bronchoscopy sputum in the diagnosis of pulmonary TB.
  
  
  METHODS
  Bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage were performed for 126 patients suspected of pulmonary TB who either had 3 negative sputum smears for acid-fast bacilli or could not expectorate. After bronchoscopy the patients were asked to give sputum samples for 3 consecutive days. All of the obtained specimens were investigated for Mycobacterium tuberculosis by smear and culture.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pulmonary TB was confirmed in 56 patients. Among all confirmed cases, the sensitivity of bronchoalveolar lavage smear was 57.1% (32 of 56), sensitivity of post-bronchoscopy smear was 76.7% (43 of 56), and the yield of a combination of the 2 methods was 83.9% (47 of 56). Results of post-bronchoscopy sputum smears were not significantly related to sex, age, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, presence of cavitary lesions on chest X-ray, or the ability to expectorate before bronchoscopy (p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evaluation of post-bronchoscopy sputum smears is helpful for earlier diagnosis of pulmonary TB and is an inexpensive and accessible assay.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Tuberculosis and Epidemiology Research Centre, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Masih Daneshvari Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malekmohammad
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marjani
authors.forename: Payam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tabarsi
authors.forename: Parvaneh
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Baghaei
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sadr
authors.forename: Parisa Adimi
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Naghan
authors.forename: Davoud
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mansouri
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Masjedi
authors.forename: Ali Akbar
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Velayati
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000382:microbiology; D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult