Exploration on the early detection of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis patients

Abstract

Objective To compare the clinical features of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (PT-) and the smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (PT+),and analyze the patient discovery way,to provide clues for early detection of smear-negative tuberculosis diagnosis.Methods We collected the data of the tuberculosis patients consecutively enrolled in our hospital from 2011-2013.We then divided the patients into two groups as PT-group and PT+ group based on the bacteriology examination results and performed comparative analysis between the two groups.Results PT-group had mild clinical symptoms and lower frequencies of cough,expectoration and fever while compared to PT+ group.Tuberculosis cavity also had statistical significant difference between PT-and PT+ groups.Furthermore,seeing a doctor in medical institutions and health examination were the main ways for tuberculosis patient discovery.Conclusion Smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis was difficult for diagnosis because of their mild or even no clinical symptoms and without focus specificity,which could easily lead to misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis.Non-tuberculosis medical institutions should pay more attention and people' s annual routine health examination should be recommended for smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis early detection. Key words: Smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis; Early detection