Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the leading killer of adults in developing and underdeveloped nations. HIV/ AIDS have also contributed to increase in the incidence of tuberculosis. In our study, we evaluated the significance of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in the early diagnosis of occult sputum smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis. We could establish the diagnosis of tuberculosis in 20 (87%) of the sputum smear negative samples with the help of BAL samples. Thus, BAL samples are very useful in early sputum smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis with minimal complications in the hands of an expert. Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) remains one of the most important health problems in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated 9.2 million new cases of tuberculosis (TB) in 2006 (139 per 100000 population), including 4.1 million new smear- positive cases (44% of the total) and 0.7 million HIV positive cases (8% of the total) worldwide. Role of Bronchoalveolar Lavage in the Diagnosis of Sputum Smear Negative Tuberculosis: Sandeep Gupta and Kanu Goel Journal of Pulmonary & Respiratory Medicine welcome articles related to "Mycobacterium tuberculosis"