To objectively assess the value of examining multiple sputum specimens in maximizing the sensitivity of detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we retrospectively reviewed the acid-fast bacillus smear and culture results of patients diagnosed with culture-proven pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) at Hennepin County Medical Center between 1986 and 1996. Two hundred and forty six persons were diagnosed...

BACKGROUND Previous studies suggest that bronchoscopy and a single induced sputum sample are equally effective for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis. METHODS In a prospective study of subjects with possibly active pulmonary tuberculosis, the diagnostic yield of three induced sputum tests was compared with that of bronchoscopy. Subjects either produced no sputum or (acid fast) smear negative s...

OBJECTIVE To assess the number of sputum specimens necessary for a reliable diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in a pastoralist population in Ethiopia. METHOD Using routine data from Ethiopia, where three sputum specimens are currently recommended for the diagnosis of PTB, we documented, (i) the proportion of persons with suspected, PTB who submitted a first, second and third sputum sp...

Weight gain achieved during pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) treatment is associated with the likelihood of bacteriological treatment success. It is recognised that weight and body mass index (BMI) characteristics differ between ethnic groups in health and illness states. However there has been no prior investigation of how ethnic differences in BMI might influence tuberculosis treatment outcome. O...

58 cases of sputum smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) were reported to Kinta Health Department between January and June 2011. It was found that 47 cases (81%) were sputum smear negative cases. Six cases (10.3%) were actually sputum smear positive but were wrongly reported as smear negative. Five cases (8.6%) were misdiagnosed as tuberculosis. Majority of these patients (82.7%) sought c...

This study aimed to explore the influence of pyrazinamide (PZA) monoresistance on the treatment outcome of otherwise drug susceptible tuberculosis (TB). A cohort of 194 TB patients that were infected with strains susceptible to isoniazid (INH), rifampin (RIF) and ethambutol (EMB) were included in a retrospective study at the Guangzhou Chest Hospital. We reported 148 (76.3%) PZAsusceptible TB ca...

In this work we present an automatic algorithm for detection of mycobacterium tuberculosis from stained sputum smear images applying a novel method of tubeness filtering in conjunction with Otsu thresholding and connected component analysis. This eliminates human effort and measurement error from the detection of the bacteria, which normally requires a lab technician or pathologist to load a gl...

BACKGROUND Flexible bronchoscopy with bronchial washing is a useful procedure for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), when a patient cannot produce sputum spontaneously or when sputum smears are negative. However, the benefit of gaining serial bronchial washing specimens for diagnosis of TB has not yet been studied. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective study to determine the diagnostic...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis continues to rely on sputum smear microscopy in many settings. We conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the percentage of children and adults with tuberculosis that are sputum smear positive. METHODS We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, and Global Health databases for studies that included both children and adults with all forms of active TB. The pooled ...