Contribution of bronchoscopic lavage to the diagnosis of smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis

Abstract

Objectives: Sputum acid-fact bacilli (AFB) and Xpert examinations are the most commonly used methods in early diagnosis for pulmonary tuberculosis. It becomes difficult for the clinician to initiate treatment in patients with negative sputum smear and Xpert examinations at the stage of diagnosis. Waiting for culture results for diagnosis causes delay in treatment and increases the risk of disease transmission. We aimed to investigate the contribution of bronchoscopic lavage (BL) obtained with flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) to the diagnosis of tuberculosis. Methods: The BL results of 36 patients hospitalized in the tuberculosis clinic who were clinically suspected of tuberculosis, but whose sputum AFB and Xpert results were negative, and whose bronchoscopic lavages were taken by FOB, were retrospectively evaluated. Results: BL Xpert examination was the method that made the most contribution to the diagnosis with a rate of 27.7%. BL smear AFB results did not contribute to the diagnosis statistically. Sputum and BL tuberculosis culture results were found to be close to each other. In total, the diagnosis of 50% of the patients was confirmed. Conclusions: Performing Xpert examinations on bronchoscopic materials of patients with negative sputum examinations significantly increase the rate of early diagnosis.