WAYS TO OPTIMIZE DETECTION OF TUBERCULOSIS IN A PULMONOLOGY UNIT

Abstract

The objective: to optimize detection of tuberculosis in a pulmonology unit.Subjects and methods.In a pulmonology unit, patients suspected of having tuberculosis had a minimum number of diagnostic tests: a skin test with tuberculous recombinant allergen, three consecutive Ziel-Nelson microscopies of sputum and fluids of bronchoalveolar lavage, and in the laboratory of TB services they performed GeneXpert MTB/RIF, Bactec MGIT. Results of the diagnostics were analyzed in 70 patients with etiologic confirmation of diagnosis.Results.A targeted inquiry and taking the patient's history were informative in 4% of cases, skin test with TRA – in 27.1%, GeneXpert MTB/RIF – в in 100%, and Bactec MGIT – in 97.1%. Introduction of express diagnostic methods to a pulmonology unit reduced the average number of bed-days from admission to diagnostics of tuberculosis and transfer to a TB in-patient unit down to 9.80 ± 4.72 days. Molecular genetic methods can be recommended for introduction to general medical services as a diagnostic minimum when examining patients with a high risk of tuberculosis.