Update on the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis (TB) remains the most important human infectious disease. Currently, the TB diagnosis is still based on the clinical presentation, radiographic findings and microbiological results; all of which have sensitivity or specificity issues. For that reason, the immediate future involves rapid molecular microbiological techniques, in particular GeneXpert (which is more sensitive than bacilloscopy and is able to detect rifampicin resistance) and GenoType. The current six-month treatment for TB has remained unchanged for decades. Attempts to shorten this treatment have failed. In recent years, new drugs have been reported that could contribute to TB treatment in the near future, and are already being used in multi-drug-resistance TB.
Servicio de Neumología, Hospital General de Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín , Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, España; Unidad de Tuberculosis Multi-Drogo-Resistente (MDR-TB) de La Unión Internacional contra la Tuberculosis y Enfermedades Respiratorias. Electronic address: jcamlun@gobiernodecanaris.org.
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Caminero Luna
Chemoprophylaxis; GeneXpert; Multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis; Pulmonary tuberculosis; Quimioprofilaxis; Tuberculosis multirresistente; Tuberculosis pulmonar