The role of diagnostic fiberoptic bronchoscopy for rapid diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

The role of fiberoptic bronchoscopy for rapid diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis was examined among 74 patients who were suspected of having the disease but had negative sputum smear for acid fast bacilli. Bronchial brushing and washing were routinely performed in all subjects and bronchial biopsy was performed on abnormal mucosa in 7 of them. The diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis was confirmed in 44.6% of the patients studied from smear examination, culture, histology or the combination of them. Rapid diagnosis was achieved in 54.5% of the confirmed cases from smear or histology within a few days of examination. Two of the cases had concomitant bronchogenic carcinoma. We conclude that the fiberoptic bronchoscopy is a useful investigation for this group of patients as confirmation of the diagnosis can be made fairly rapidly in a significant proportion of them, hence the treatment can be started confidently.