SETTING Nairobi City Council Chest Clinic, Nairobi, Kenya. OBJECTIVE To determine if under-reading of sputum smears is a contributing factor in the disproportionate increase in smear-negative tuberculosis in Nairobi, Kenya. METHODOLOGY Between October 1997 and November 1998, patients fulfilling the local programme definition of smear-negative presumed pulmonary tuberculosis were enrolled in...

BACKGROUND Sputum smear microscopy is the standard diagnostic method for detection of smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Insufficient quality of sputum might result in missing cases. In this study we aimed at assessing the quality of sputum in a district in Central Java and determining patient and health worker factors associated with submission of three good quality sputum samples. ...

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 fo...

1. Microscopical examination of sputum that has been washed with isotonic salt solution indicates its source. Sputum from above the vocal cords contains polygonal flat epithelial cells and numerous species of non-pathogenic microorganisms. Sputum from below the cords is clear of saprophytes, although it sometimes contains bronchoalveolar cuboidal cells. 2. The source of the sputum can be determ...

BACKGROUND The sputum inflammatory cell profile is an important indicator for classifying asthma phenotypes. OBJECTIVE To investigate if sputum inflammatory cell profile remains stable and there are different characteristics between groups that show different profile over time in stable asthmatic patients. METHODS A total of 149 asthmatic patients, who were clinically stable at the time of ...

Bacteriological results from microscopic and cultural examinations of morning and 24 h sputum were compared in an attempt to optimize the diagnosis of bacterial exacerbations of chronic bronchitis. Twelve patients collected sputum randomly on two consecutive days, either fresh morning sputum (3 h sputum) first, followed by 24 h sputum or vice-versa. Sputa were washed three times in 0.9% NaCl an...

Only 13 of 38 hospital laboratories surveyed include a Gram stain routinely in microbiological sputum examination. In a prospective three-hospital study, 60% of over 1,200 "sputum" specimens consisted predominantly of saliva, as judged by cell composition. Compared with the results of cultures in which microorganisms presumptively identified on sputum smears were specifically sought ("directed ...