Clinical and radiographic characteristics of presumptive tuberculosis patients previously treated for tuberculosis in Zambia.

BACKGROUND: Persistent respiratory symptoms and radiographic abnormalities are common among individuals previously treated for tuberculosis (TB) and may contribute to misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment when they seek care. We sought to determine if clinical and radiographic characteristics differed among previously treated, presumptive TB patients according to their current TB disease status. METHODS: Adults (>18 years of age) seeking care at a public health facility in Lusaka, Zambia were systematically evaluated for active TB using symptom screening and chest X-ray. All patients with presumptive TB submitted a sputum sample for microbiological TB testing. Patients who reported a prior history of TB treatment were included in the present analysis. 'Confirmed TB' was defined by the detection of TB using Xpert Ultra and/or liquid culture, while 'possible TB' was defined by the receipt of TB treatment without a positive Xpert Ultra or culture result. We evaluated the positive predictive value (PPV) of clinical symptoms and radiographic features for active TB alone and in combination. RESULTS: Of 740 presumptive TB patients, 144 (19%) had been previously treated for active TB. Of these, 19 (13%) patients had confirmed TB, 14 (10%) had possible TB, and 111 (77%) had no pulmonary TB. Overall, 119 (83%) patients had ≥1 current respiratory symptom-this did not differ according to current TB disease classification (95%, 93%, 79%; p = 0.23). Sixty-one patients (56%) had radiographic abnormalities suggestive of active TB and such findings were more common among patients with confirmed or possible TB compared to those without TB (93%, 71%, vs. 47%; p = 0.002). Most patients (n = 91, 83%) had at least one radiographic abnormality-no difference by current TB classification was observed (93%, 100%, 79%; p = 0.08). The PPV of any current respiratory symptom, active TB radiographic finding, or any radiographic abnormality for TB was 13% (95%CI: 7-21%), 21% (95%CI: 12-34) and 14% (95%CI: 9-23), respectively; combining clinical and radiographic characteristics did not significantly improve the PPV for active TB. CONCLUSIONS: Among presumptive TB patients previously treated for TB, respiratory symptoms and radiographic abnormalities were common and poorly differentiated those with current active TB from those without current active TB. Reliance on clinical and radiographic characteristics alone in this patient population may result in substantial overtreatment and therefore, microbiological investigations should be used to inform TB treatment decisions whenever possible.

Machine Learning-Based Differentiation of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Lung Disease and Pulmonary Tuberculosis Using CT Images.

An increasing number of patients infected with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are observed worldwide. However, it is challenging to identify NTM lung diseases from pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) due to considerable overlap in classic manifestations and clinical and radiographic characteristics. This study quantifies both cavitary and bronchiectasis regions in CT images and explores a machine learning approach for the differentiation of NTM lung diseases and PTB. It involves 116 patients and 103 quantitative features. After the selection of informative features, a linear support vector machine performs disease classification, and simultaneously, discriminative features are recognized. Experimental results indicate that bronchiectasis is relatively more informative, and two features are figured out due to promising prediction performance (area under the curve, 0.84 ± 0.06; accuracy, 0.85 ± 0.06; sensitivity, 0.88 ± 0.07; and specificity, 0.80 ± 0.12). This study provides insight into machine learning-based identification of NTM lung diseases from PTB, and more importantly, it makes early and quick diagnosis of NTM lung diseases possible that can facilitate lung disease management and treatment planning.

Vertebral tuberculosis as a paradoxical reaction to the treatment of pulmonary and meningeal tuberculosis in an immunocompetent patient: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Paradoxical reaction in tuberculosis (TB) is defined as the reappearance of general symptoms, aggravation of pre-existing diseases, or appearance of new lesions despite adequate anti-TB therapy. It may result from the hyperactivity of the immune response, resulting in an intense inflammation. There are few cases of vertebral TB reported as paradoxical reaction, mainly among immunocompetents patients. PATIENT CONCERNS: We describe a male immunocompetent patient with confirmed pulmonary and meningeal TB. He was readmitted after 60 days of adequate treatment, with vertebral TB and paravertebral abscess, despite clinical improvement of the other locations. We defined as an uncommon case of a paradoxical reaction, confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance and molecular rapid test for TB. DIAGNOSIS: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) was detected in cerebrospinal fluid by molecular rapid test (Gene Xpert MTB/ rifampicina method). Sputum research and culture were positive for the same agent. Lumbosacral spine nuclear magnetic resonance revealed bone destruction from T8 to T11, and a paravertebral collection was found. Gene Xpert MTB/rifampicina and culture were positive for M tuberculosis in the drained material of the paravertebral abscess. INTERVENTIONS: The paravertebral abscess was drainage by tomography-guided. Treatment with 4 anti-TB drugs was extended for 60 days and 2 anti-TB drugs was maintained for 10 months. There was a complete clinical improvement. OUTCOME: After draining the paravertebral abscess, the patient progressively improved and was discharged for outpatient follow-up. He was on antituberculous drugs for 1 year; subsequently, complete resolution of the infection was reported. CONCLUSION: Paradoxical reaction may be a difficult diagnosis in immunocompetent patient. Vertebral TB as a paradoxical reaction is an uncommon presentation. Therapeutic failure or resistance to treatment should be ruled out to confirm the diagnosis of paradoxical reaction.

Deep Learning at Chest Radiography: Automated Classification of Pulmonary Tuberculosis by Using Convolutional Neural Networks.

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) for detecting tuberculosis (TB) on chest radiographs. Materials and Methods Four deidentified HIPAA-compliant datasets were used in this study that were exempted from review by the institutional review board, which consisted of 1007 posteroanterior chest radiographs. The datasets were split into training (68.0%), validation (17.1%), and test (14.9%). Two different DCNNs, AlexNet and GoogLeNet, were used to classify the images as having manifestations of pulmonary TB or as healthy. Both untrained and pretrained networks on ImageNet were used, and augmentation with multiple preprocessing techniques. Ensembles were performed on the best-performing algorithms. For cases where the classifiers were in disagreement, an independent board-certified cardiothoracic radiologist blindly interpreted the images to evaluate a potential radiologist-augmented workflow. Receiver operating characteristic curves and areas under the curve (AUCs) were used to assess model performance by using the DeLong method for statistical comparison of receiver operating characteristic curves. Results The best-performing classifier had an AUC of 0.99, which was an ensemble of the AlexNet and GoogLeNet DCNNs. The AUCs of the pretrained models were greater than that of the untrained models (P < .001). Augmenting the dataset further increased accuracy (P values for AlexNet and GoogLeNet were .03 and .02, respectively). The DCNNs had disagreement in 13 of the 150 test cases, which were blindly reviewed by a cardiothoracic radiologist, who correctly interpreted all 13 cases (100%). This radiologist-augmented approach resulted in a sensitivity of 97.3% and specificity 100%. Conclusion Deep learning with DCNNs can accurately classify TB at chest radiography with an AUC of 0.99. A radiologist-augmented approach for cases where there was disagreement among the classifiers further improved accuracy. © RSNA, 2017.

Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Strains in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: There is a perception that genomic differences in the species/lineages of the nine species making the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) may affect the efficacy of distinct control tools in certain geographical areas. We therefore analyzed the prevalence and spatial distribution of MTBC species and lineages among isolates from pulmonary TB cases over an 8-year period, 2007-2014. METHODOLOGY: Mycobacterial species isolated by culture from consecutively recruited pulmonary tuberculosis patients presenting at selected district/sub-district health facilities were confirmed as MTBC by IS6110 and rpoß PCR and further assigned lineages and sub lineages by spoligotyping and large sequence polymorphism PCR (RDs 4, 9, 12, 702, 711) assays. Patient characteristics, residency, and risks were obtained with a structured questionnaire. We used SaTScan and ArcMap analyses to identify significantly clustered MTBC lineages within selected districts and spatial display, respectively. RESULTS: Among 2,551 isolates, 2,019 (79.1%), 516 (20.2%) and 16 (0.6%) were identified as M. tuberculosis sensu stricto (MTBss), M. africanum (Maf), 15 M. bovis and 1 M. caprae, respectively. The proportions of MTBss and Maf were fairly constant within the study period. Maf spoligotypes were dominated by Spoligotype International Type (SIT) 331 (25.42%), SIT 326 (15.25%) and SIT 181 (14.12%). We found M. bovis to be significantly higher in Northern Ghana (1.9% of 212) than Southern Ghana (0.5% of 2339) (p = 0.020). Using the purely spatial and space-time analysis, seven significant MTBC lineage clusters (p< 0.05) were identified. Notable among the clusters were Ghana and Cameroon sub-lineages found to be associated with north and south, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that overall, 79.1% of TB in Ghana is caused by MTBss and 20% by M. africanum. Unlike some West African Countries, we did not observe a decline of Maf prevalence in Ghana.

Tuberculosis or sarcoidosis: Opposite ends of the same disease spectrum?

Tuberculosis and sarcoidosis are chronic systemic diseases that have similar pulmonary and extra-pulmonary manifestations. Multiple studies have found an epidemiological, molecular, and immunological link between the two. It has been suggested that mycobacterium tuberculosis could be a common pathophysiologic mechanism for tuberculosis and sarcoidosis, and that both clinical entities can trigger similar immunological response in patients. Due to this close association, together with possible coexistence in the same patient, the diagnosis of one disease from another may be difficult. In our paper, we suggest that tuberculosis and sarcoidosis are two ends of the same spectrum. Given the pathophysiological and clinical link between the two, we also propose a classification system for tuberculosis and sarcoidosis: Sarcoidosis (S); Sarcoid-Tuberculous (ST); Tuberculous Sarcoid (TS) and Tuberculosis (TB). More research and clinical trials should first be done to affirm the link between the two disease entities.

Analysis of Plasma Cytokine and Chemokine Profiles in Patients with and without Tuberculosis by Liquid Array-Based Multiplexed Immunoassays.

The aim of this study was to establish plasma cytokine/chemokine profiles in patients with 3 different presentations of active tuberculosis (TB), compared to the profiles observed in bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-vaccinated healthy individuals and patients with other pulmonary diseases (non-TB patients). To this end, plasma samples were collected from 151 TB patients including 68 pulmonary TB (PTB), 43 endobronchial TB, and 40 tuberculosis pleurisy (TP) patients, as well as 107 no-TB cases including 26 non-TB patients and 81 BCG-vaccinated healthy controls. A liquid array-based multiplexed immunoassay was used to screen plasma samples for 20 distinct cytokines and chemokines. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyze associations between cytokines/chemokines and TB/non-TB patients. Compared to our findings with the no-TB donors, the median plasma levels of the proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines TNF-α, IL-6, IP-10, IFN-γ, and MIP-1ß were significantly elevated in TB patients, suggesting their potential use as biomarkers for diagnosing TB patients. Further comparisons with healthy donors showed that only the median TNF-α plasma level was highly produced in the plasma of all 3 types of TB patients. Plasma IL-6 production was higher only in TP patients, while the plasma levels of IP-10, IFN-γ, and MIP-1ß were markedly enhanced in both PTB and TP patients. Unexpectedly, among the above cytokines/chemokines, MIP-1ß was also highly expressed in non-TB patients, compared with healthy donors. Our results suggested that TNF-α may be an ideal biomarker for diagnosing the 3 forms of TB presentation, while the other factors (IL-6, IP-10, MCP-1, and IFN-γ) can potentially facilitate differential diagnosis for the 3 TB presentation types. Further characterization of immune responses associated with different types of TB diseases will provide a basis for developing novel TB diagnostics.

[Update on the radiological study of pulmonary tuberculosis]. / Puesta al día en el estudio radiológico de la tuberculosis pulmonary.

Tuberculosis has made a comeback in recent years. This upsurge has been attributed to factors such as increased immigration and the human immunodeficiency virus epidemic. Primary pulmonary tuberculosis manifests radiologically with parenchymal involvement, lymph node involvement, pleural effusion, and/or miliary disease. In post-primary tuberculosis, the earliest radiological sign is small nodules and branching centrilobular lesions that increase in size and coalesce to form ill-defined patchy consolidations; cavitations are very characteristic of active disease. The aim of this article is to describe the radiologic findings for pulmonary tuberculosis and its complications.

[Infectious pulmonary diseases]. / Infektiöse Lungenerkrankungen.

Infectious pulmonary diseases and pneumonias are important causes of death within the group of infectious diseases in Germany. Most cases are triggered by bacteria. The morphology of the inflammation is often determined by the agent involved but several histopathological types of reaction are possible. Histology alone is only rarely able to identify the causal agent; therefore additional microbiological diagnostics are necessary in most cases. Clinically cases are classified as community acquired and nosocomial pneumonia, pneumonia under immunosuppression and mycobacterial infections. Histologically, alveolar and interstitial as well as lobar and focal pneumonia can be differentiated.

Measuring the accuracy of a point system to diagnose tuberculosis in children with a negative smear or with no smear or culture.

In Brazil, a scoring system was adopted to diagnose tuberculosis in childhood. This study determined the accuracy in diagnosing tuberculosis in children with either a negative smear or with no smear or culture conducted in a reference center in João Pessoa Paraíba - Brazil. It is a phase III validation study, using a cross-section design. The study population consisted of 167 patients attending the outpatient clinics suspected of having tuberculosis. The reference standard for the diagnosis of tuberculosis was a blind and independent review of the medical records, radiology and tuberculin test by two experts. Of the 167 patients, 60 were considered to have tuberculosis (by the reference standard diagnostics). The results for the scoring system with the cut-off of 30 points were: sensitivity 78.57% (95%-CI: 65.56-88.41%), specificity 69.16% (95%-CI: 59.50-77.73%), positive predictive value (PPV): 57.14% (95%-CI: 45.35-68.37%), negative predictive value (NPV): 86.05% (95%-CI: 76.89-92.58%), likelihood ratio (+): 2,55, pre-test probability: 34.36%, and post-test probability (+): 57.14%. This supports the current recommendation for the use of this scoring system in Brazil and similar sites with the cut-off of 30 points. However, as the discriminatory power of the point scoring system may vary across settings, it would be advisable to replicate this phase III study in different settings.

Factores de riesgo socioeconómicos asociados a tuberculosis pulmonar en pacientes de 15 y más años. Hospital Municipal Modelo Corea, Ciudad de El Alto. Gestión 2012 / Socioeconomic risk factors associated with pulmonary tuberculosis in patients aged 15 or older. Model Municipal Hospital Korea City El Alto, management 2012

Objetivo.- Determinar si las condiciones socioeconómicas como: El hacinamiento, la migración temporal por trabajo y la desnutrición son factores de riesgo para el desarrollo de tuberculosis pulmonar en población de 15 y más años de edad, atendida en el Servicio de Medicina Interna del Hospital Municipal Modelo Corea, Ciudad de El Alto de enero a octubre de la gestión 2012. Método.- Estudio epidemiológico observacional, analítico de Casos y Controles en pacientes mayores de 15 años de edad. Se analizaron 34 Casos de tuberculosis pulmonar y 68 Controles con otros diagnósticos, se incluyeron en el estudio todos los pacientes nuevos con diagnóstico de tuberculosis pulmonar que cumplían con la definición de caso. Los controles fueron pacientes, con otros diagnósticos excepto tuberculosis o infecciones respiratorias crónicas...

Objective: To determine whether socioeconomic conditions such as overcrowding, temporary migration for work and malnutrition are risk factors for the development ofpulmonary tuberculosis in people aged 15 or more years of age, treated at the Department of Internal Medicine Hospital Model Municipal Korea, City of El Alto from January to October 2012 management. Method.- observational epidemiological study, analytical Case-Control in patients over 15 years of age. 34 Cases of pulmonary tuberculosis and 68 controls with other diagnoses were analyzed in the study included all new patients diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis who met the case definition. Controls were patients with other diagnoses except tuberculosis or chronic respiratory infections...

Challenges in diagnosing extrapulmonary tuberculosis in the European Union, 2011.

In the European Union (EU) 72,334 tuberculosis (TB) cases were notified in 2011, of which 16,116 (22%) had extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB). The percentage of TB cases with EPTB ranged from 4% to 48% in the reporting countries. This difference might be explained by differences in risk factors for EPTB or challenges in diagnosis. To assess the practices in diagnosis of EPTB we asked European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries to participate in a report describing the diagnostic procedures and challenges in diagnosing EPTB. Eleven EU Member States participated and reports showed that in the majority EPTB is diagnosed by a pulmonologist, sometimes in collaboration with the doctor who is specialised in the organ where the symptoms presented. In most countries a medical history and examination is followed by invasive procedures, puncture or biopsy, to collect material for confirmation of the disease (by culture/histology/cytology). Some countries also use the tuberculin skin test or an interferon-gamma-release-assay. A wide variety of radiological tests may be used. Countries that reported challenges in the diagnosis of EPTB reported that EPTB is often not considered because it is a rare disease and most medical professionals will not have experience in diagnosing EPTB. The fact that EPTB can present with a variety of symptoms that may mimic symptoms of other pathologies does pose a further challenge in diagnosis. In addition, obtaining an appropriate sample for confirmation of EPTB was frequently mentioned as a challenge. In summary, diagnosis of EPTB poses challenges due to the diversity of symptoms with which EPTB may present, the low level of suspicion of clinicians, and due to the difficulty in obtaining an adequate sample for confirmation.

Drug resistance patterns in pulmonary tuberculosis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the resistance patterns of mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates among category I and II patients of pulmonary tuberculosis. METHODS: This cross sectional study was conducted at the Department of Medicine, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro, from November 2008 to September 2009. Patients were divided into category I and II. The sputa were collected, stained with Ziehl-Nielsen (Z-N) staining and ultimately inoculated on Lowenstein-Jensen (L-J) media for six weeks. Out of 890 pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients, the growth was obtained in 285 cases. The Drug sensitivity testing (DST) for Isoniazid (INH), Rifampicin (RIF), Ethambutol (EMB) Pyrazinamide (PZA) and Streptomycin (SM) were performed. The data was analyzed on SPSS 10.0. A p-value of <0.05 was taken as significant. RESULT: Out of 285 cases, 176 (61.75%) were male and 109 (38.24%) female. The mean age was 37 +/- 19.90 years. The DST showed drug sensitive and drug resistant isolates in 80 (28.05%) and 205 (71.92%) cases respectively (p=0.001). The drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) rates for individual drugs; INH, RIF, EMB, PZA and SM were 51,22%, 15.4%, 13.33%, 9%12, and 3.85% respectively (p=0.03). The MDR-TB isolates were detected in 120 (42.10%) cases, including 5 (5.88%) in category I and 115 (57.50%) in category II patients (p=0.0001). CONCLUSION: Drug resistant and multidrug resistant tuberculosis was observed mainly in category II patients. However, primary MDR was also observed in category I patients and reflects dissemination of MDR cases within the community.

Características clínicas y sociodemográficas de niños menores de 13 años con diagnóstico confirmado de tuberculosis pulmonar o sin él, en el Hospital Universitario San Vicente de Paúl, Medellín, Colombia, 2007-2008 / Clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of children, younger than13 years, with or without a confirmed diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis, at Hospital Universitario San Vicente de Paúl, Medellín, Colombia, 2007-2008

Introducción: la tuberculosis (TB) es una de las enfermedades infectocontagiosas más importantes en el mundo debido a que se asocia con altas tasas de morbilidad y mortalidad. En niños puede afectar cualquier órgano o sistema, a cualquier edad, pero con mayor frecuencia es pulmonar. Tiene graves consecuencias si no se la diagnostica y trata de forma oportuna y adecuada. Los síntomas y signos son variados e inespecíficos lo que, sumado a la dificultad en el aislamiento del Mycobacterium tuberculosis a partir de muestras de niños disminuye la probabilidad de hacer el diagnóstico. Objetivo: puntualizar las características clínicas y sociodemográficas de un grupo de niños con sospecha o diagnóstico final de tuberculosis pulmonar. Metodología: la población en estudio correspondió a 56 niños menores de 13 años atendidos en los servicios pediátricos de urgencias y hospitalización del Hospital Universitario San Vicente de Paúl, en Medellín, a quienes se les sospechó o confirmó TB pulmonar, según los criterios de la OMS, entre julio de 2007 y diciembre de 2008. Se aplicó un formulario para la recolección de los datos, que se obtuvieron directamente de los pacientes o sus acudientes, y se completaron con las historias clínicas en el archivo del hospital. Resultados: en 38 de los 56 niños (67,9%) se confirmó el diagnóstico de tuberculosis pulmonar. El 87,5% pertenecían a los estratos socioeconómicos más bajos (1 y 2); 55% provenían del área urbana de Medellín, 70% eran mestizos y 28,6%, indígenas. La tos y la fiebre fueron las manifestaciones más comunes en el grupo con diagnóstico definitivo de TB; el criterio epidemiológico fue positivo en 53,6% de los casos, el radiológico en 51,8% y el tuberculínico, en 41,1%. Conclusión: la TB pulmonar sigue presente en la población infantil y se debe tener un alto índice de sospecha clínica para detectarla, pues las manifestaciones son variadas e inespecíficas...

Introduction: Worldwide, tuberculosis is one of the most important infectious and contagious diseases. It is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. In children, tuberculosis is most frequently pulmonary but it may affect every organ and system. Its consequences, if inadequately treated, may be severe. Symptoms and signs are diverse and nonspecific, and the bacteriological confirmation is difficult in children. For these reasons, making the diagnosis in the pediatric population may be a really difficult challenge.Objective: To determine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of a group of children with suspicion or confirmed diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.Methodology: Fifty six children were studied at Hospital Universitario San Vicente de Paúl, in Medellín, Colombia, between July 2007 and December 2008. Pulmonarytuberculosis was confirmed according to the WHO criteria. Information was obtained from the patients themselves, their parents, and the hospital files. Results: In 38 of the 56 children (67.9%) pulmonary tuberculosis was confirmed. Their socioeconomic situation was poor in 87.5% of the cases; 55% came from the urban area of the city; 70% were mestizo, and 26.8%, Indians. Cough and fever were the predominant clinical manifestations. The positivity rate of diagnostic criteria was as follows: 53.6% for the epidemiological, 51.6% for the radiological, and 41.1% for the tuberculin test. Conclusion: Pulmonary tuberculosis continues to be of great importance in the pediatric population...

Active tuberculosis in surgical patients with negative preoperative sputum smear results.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the proportion of negative preoperative sputum smear results among patients presenting active TB, as identified through the evaluation of surgical samples. METHODS: A retrospective study of patients undergoing surgery between 2003 and 2006 at a university hospital and receiving a histopathological diagnosis of active or latent TB. We reviewed patient histories, TB-related clinical aspects, acid-fast bacilli (AFB) test results, type of surgery performed and histopathological findings in surgical samples. RESULTS: We included 43 patients, 27 of whom were male. The mean age was 44 + or - 19 years. Twenty-eight patients had a history of TB (treated appropriately), and 15 reported no history of the disease. The main reason for seeking treatment was recurrent infection, followed by alterations seen in imaging studies. Of the 43 patients, 35 underwent preoperative AFB testing: 32 tested negative, and 3 tested positive. Among those 35 patients, the histopathological diagnosis was active TB in 26 and latent TB in 9. The 8 patients not submitted to preoperative AFB testing were also diagnosed with latent TB. The proportion of active TB in patients with negative sputum smear results was 72% (23/32), whereas that of negative sputum smear results in patients with active TB was 88% (23/26). Only 11.5% (3/26) of the patients had tested positive for AFB. CONCLUSIONS: Direct sputum smear microscopy has a very low yield. Many previously treated patients can present negative sputum smear results and yet have active TB. Active TB can be mistaken for secondary infections or for cancer.

Tuberculose ativa em pacientes cirúrgicos com baciloscopia negativa no pré-operatório / Active tuberculosis in surgical patients with negative preoperative sputum smear results

OBJETIVO: Verificar a proporção de pacientes com baciloscopia negativa no pré-operatório e que apresentaram TB ativa na peça cirúrgica. MÉTODOS: Estudo retrospectivo de pacientes com diagnóstico histopatológico de TB ativa ou sequelar e operados entre os anos de 2003 e 2006 em um hospital universitário. Foram pesquisados antecedentes e aspectos clínicos relativos à doença, pesquisa de bacilos álcool-ácido resistentes (BAAR), tipo de cirurgia realizada e exame histopatológico da peça cirúrgica. RESULTADOS: Foram incluídos 43 pacientes, com média de idade de 44 ± 19 anos, sendo 27 do sexo masculino. Apresentavam história prévia de TB com tratamento adequado 28 pacientes, e 15 não referiam antecedentes para TB. O principal motivo da procura pelo serviço foi infecção de repetição, seguida por achados em exames de imagem. Dos 43 pacientes, foi pesquisado BAAR no pré-operatório em 35: 32 apresentaram resultados negativos e 3, resultados positivos. Dos 35 pacientes pesquisados, 26 apresentavam diagnóstico histopatológico de TB ativa e 9 de TB sequelar na peça cirúrgica; os outros 8 também foram diagnosticados com TB sequelar. A proporção de TB ativa em doentes com baciloscopia negativa foi de 72 por cento (23/32), e o de baciloscopia negativa em TB ativa foi de 88 por cento (23/26), sendo a pesquisa de BAAR positiva somente em 11,5 por cento (3/26). CONCLUSÕES: A baciloscopia direta tem rendimento muito baixo, e muitos pacientes mesmo já tratados podem permanecer com TB em atividade com baciloscopia negativa. A TB ativa pode ser confundida com infecções secundárias ou com câncer.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the proportion of negative preoperative sputum smear results among patients presenting active TB, as identified through the evaluation of surgical samples. METHODS: A retrospective study of patients undergoing surgery between 2003 and 2006 at a university hospital and receiving a histopathological diagnosis of active or latent TB. We reviewed patient histories, TB-related clinical aspects, acid-fast bacilli (AFB) test results, type of surgery performed and histopathological findings in surgical samples. RESULTS: We included 43 patients, 27 of whom were male. The mean age was 44 ± 19 years. Twenty-eight patients had a history of TB (treated appropriately), and 15 reported no history of the disease. The main reason for seeking treatment was recurrent infection, followed by alterations seen in imaging studies. Of the 43 patients, 35 underwent preoperative AFB testing: 32 tested negative, and 3 tested positive. Among those 35 patients, the histopathological diagnosis was active TB in 26 and latent TB in 9. The 8 patients not submitted to preoperative AFB testing were also diagnosed with latent TB. The proportion of active TB in patients with negative sputum smear results was 72 percent (23/32), whereas that of negative sputum smear results in patients with active TB was 88 percent (23/26). Only 11.5 percent (3/26) of the patients had tested positive for AFB. CONCLUSIONS: Direct sputum smear microscopy has a very low yield. Many previously treated patients can present negative sputum smear results and yet have active TB. Active TB can be mistaken for secondary infections or for cancer.

Outcomes of different subgroups of smear-positive retreatment patients under RNTCP in rural West Bengal, India.

INTRODUCTION: This record-based study was undertaken at Bagula Tuberculosis Unit, Nadia, West Bengal, India to compare outcomes among sputum-positive TB retreatment patient groups (relapse, failure and treatment after default) at completion of therapy, under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP). METHODS: A total of 234 registered cases of TB retreatment (category II) between January 1999 and June 2005 were analysed and compared by Z-test for proportion. RESULTS: There was a uniform distribution in terms of age, grades of sputum positivity and sputum conversion at 2 and 3 months among the three groups. In spite of this, a favourable outcome was most likely for relapse cases, and cases with a low grade of sputum positivity in all three subgroups. Unfavourable outcome was most likely among the treatment failure subgroup and those with high grades of sputum positivity. CONCLUSION: The results are likely to be due to an increased incidence of multi-drug resistant TB in these patients. In rural areas of the developing world, as in India, there is a heavy burden of TB and resources are limited. Culture and drug sensitivity patterns prior to commencing therapy should be performed for failure and default patients who present with an initially high load of bacilli in their sputum.