The value of bronchoscopy in the diagnosis of sputum smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis in a general hospital / 中国感染与化疗杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To examine the value of bronchoscopy in the diagnosis of sputum-negative pulmonary tuberculosis in a general hospital.Methods A retrospective study was conducted for the 459 patients treated in a general hospital from June 2010 to May 2015.All the patients had symptoms and radiographic changes suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis but smearnegative.All patients were subjected to bronchoscopy,including brushing,bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and transbronchial biopsy (TBB).The bronchoscopic specimens were submitted for direct smear and acid-fast stain,Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture or histopathological assay,respectively.Results The diagnosis was confirmed by bronchoscopy in 378 (82.4％) of the 459 patients.Of the 378 patients whose diagnosis was confirmed,pulmonary tuberculosis was identified in 238 patients (63.0％).Other diagnoses included bronchogenic carcinoma,non-specific inflammation,organizing pneumonia,pulmonary fungal infection,interstitial pneumonia,sarcoidosis,nontuberculous mycobacterial infection.Of the patients with confirmed diagnosis by bronchoscopy,the sensitivity for diagnosis was 57.95％ by direct smear and acid-fast stain of brushing or BALF,79.78％ by culture of BALF,and 56.93％ by histopathological assay of TBB specimens.The integrated method by combining smear and stain,culture and histopathological assay of TBB specimens could improve the sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value,and negative predictive value to 91.01％,97.46％,97.98％ and 88.89％.Conclusions For the patients whose clinical manifestations and imaging changes are suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis but smear-negative,bronchoscopy is a valuable method for the diagnosis,which should be adopted as a routine test in clinical practice.