BACKGROUND : Serum and sputum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) levels are correlated with asthma disease severity. OBJECTIVE : To establish a diagnostic accuracy of ECP and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in serum (indirectly) and sputum (directly) as inflammatory markers in asthma. PATIENTS AND METHODS : In a cross sectional study, 76 asthmatic patients with exacerbation were enrolled in the ...

Three monoclonal antibody staining kits, from Genetic Systems, Disease Detection International, and Meridian Diagnostics, were compared with calcofluor white for the direct detection of Pneumocystis carinii in respiratory specimens. Of the 150 specimens tested, 23 were found positive for P. carinii by any of the four stains; 13 were bronchoalveolar lavage, 7 were induced sputum and 3 were expec...

Viscous sputum specimens usually cannot undergo automated extraction, and thus, a pre-homogenization process is desirable before isolating nucleic acids for real-time reverse transcription PCR. In this study, we compared three preprocessing methods [preprocessing with normal saline (NS), dithiothreitol (DTT), and proteinase K (PK)] of sputum specimens on the extraction and detection of influenz...

the study has strived to compare the leucocyte-esterase stripe activity on sputum samples with gram-stained direct smear microscopy. this is for the demonstration of white blood cells (wbcs) and so to develop a simple method for selecting suitable sputum samples for cultural examination and laboratory diagnosis. . a total of 17(34.0%) out of 50 samples studied were shown to be unsuitable for mi...

a study on clinical signs of tuberculosis patients in urmia a gholami , bsc l moosavi jahromi ,bsc received: 11 aug, 2009 accepted: 25 oct, 2009 abstract background & aims: tuberculosis is a major health problem worldwide, especially in developing countries. the warning signs of pulmonary tuberculosis are chronic cough with sputum that is usually accompanied by bloody sputum, and sometimes the ...

In the current number of the Journal, Ci.ANCY et al. [1] have examined 29 specimens of sputum from patients before and during chemotherapy by direct smear, culture and guinea-pig inoculation with the aim of deciding whether there is any change in pathogenicity during the early weeks of chemotherapy. They found that the occurrence of tuberculosis in the guinea-pig was more closely associated wit...

TO THE EDITOR—The sputum Gram stain and culture are crucial components of the diagnostic workup in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Prior studies have demonstrated a reduced yield of sputum studies when antibiotics are initiated prior to obtaining a sputum specimen [1–4], but we are aware of only a single study that relates this yield of sputum studies to the time after initiat...

SETTING Five districts in Sri Lanka. OBJECTIVES To determine: 1) the proportion of sputum smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) cases who failed to smear convert at 2 months, 2) their management, and 3) whether baseline characteristics and final treatment outcomes were different from those who did smear convert. DESIGN Cross-sectional retrospective review of medical files, tuberculosi...

A previously healthy woman aged 53 years presented with cough, night sweats and weakness. Chest roentgenogram revealed a reticulonodular infiltrate of the right upper lung. Multiple sputum cultures were positive for Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare, with no immunodeficiency disease. Fibreoptic endoscopy showed multiple tracheal cartilaginous knobs from a tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplast...

n Society http cense. Abstract Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is a widely spread disease, usually treated by multidrug therapy, nevertheless there are increasing number of cases in which medical treatment fails and requires surgical intervention specially those with large cavitary lesions or persistent sputum positive for Ziehl Neelsen (ZN) stain. Our objective was to assess the role o...