Fiberbronchoscopy in smear-negative miliary tuberculosis.

Twenty-two patients with smear-negative miliary tuberculosis underwent fiberbronchoscopy and brush smears; bronchial aspirates and transbronchial lung biopsy specimens were obtained. A definite diagnosis of tuberculosis was made in 16 (73 percent) patients. A rapid diagnosis was established in 14 of these 16 patients either from brush smears alone (three) or bronchial aspirate smear alone (one) or exclusively by histopathologic study of biopsy specimens (seven). Both brush smears and biopsy histopathology results provided the diagnosis in three patients. Bronchial aspirate culture was the only positive specimen in two patients. No serious complication resulted from the procedure. Our experience substantiates previous reports of the value and safety of fiberbronchoscopy in the rapid diagnosis of smear-negative miliary tuberculosis.

[1]  K. Anderson,et al.  Effect of cigarette smoking on the specific antibody response in pigeon fanciers. , 1988, Thorax.

[2]  E. Bateman,et al.  Role of the neodymium YAG laser in the management of tracheal tumours. , 1986, Thorax.

[3]  A. Arnold,et al.  Postal survey of bronchoscopic practice by physicians in the United Kingdom. , 1986, Thorax.

[4]  P. Potgieter,et al.  Use of the flexible fibreoptic bronchoscope in diagnosis of sputum-negative pulmonary tuberculosis. , 1982, Thorax.

[5]  Gilinsky Nh,et al.  The clinical spectrum of hepatic granuloma. , 1981 .

[6]  J. Viroslav,et al.  Miliary tuberculosis diagnosed by fibreoptic bronchoscopy and transbronchial biopsy. , 1978, Tubercle.

[7]  G. Klatskin.  HEPATIC GRANULOMATA: PROBLEMS IN INTERPRETATION , 1976, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[8]  S. Sahn,et al.  Diagnosis of milary tuberculosis by transbronchial lung biopsy. , 1975, British medical journal.

[9]  P. Munt.  MILIARY TUBERCULOSIS IN THE CHEMOTHERAPY ERA: WITH A CLINICAL REVIEW IN 69 AMERICAN ADULTS , 1972, Medicine.

[10]  J. Sloan,et al.  The changing pattern of miliary tuberculosis , 1970, Thorax.

[11]  M. Westerman,et al.  DIAGNOSTIC USEFULNESS OF MARROW BIOPSY IN DISSEMINATED TUBERCULOSIS. , 2015, The American review of respiratory disease.

[12]  E. Laforet,et al.  The role of the topical anesthetic agent in modifying bacteriologic data obtained by bronchoscopy. , 1962, The New England journal of medicine.

[13]  F. Schaffner,et al.  Liver biopsy in a tuberculosis hospital. , 1956, Diseases of the chest.