Analysis on reason for misdiagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

Objective: To analyse the reason for tuberculsis misdiagnosed as other diseases in lung and the diagnosis method. Method: Data of 64 cases with tuberculosis which were misdiagnosed as other diseases between January 1998 and December 2002 were collected. There were 41 men and 23 women. The age ranging from 16 to 67 year old (mean 43.9 year), To analyse the reason for misdiagnosis and diagnosis method. Result: The misdiagnosis cases were respectively pneumonia 22, lung cancer 26, bronchiectasis 6, septicaemia 2, typhoid 1, acute viral hepatitis 1, staphytococcus pneumonia 1 and chronic pulmonary abscess 5. The diagnosis methods were : Acid-fast bacillus was found in sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in 20, PPD strong positive and good results have achieved with anti-TB drugs in 5. Good clinical curative effect were achieved after testing anti-TB treatment in 9, and 14 cases were diagnosed from operating pathology , 9 cases were diagnosed from transcutaneous lung puncture, 7cases were diagnosed from observation.Conclusion: The clinican should to comprehensive analyse clinical history , X-ray examination , sputum anti-fast bacillus examination, PPD test, tuberculosis antibody, transcutaneous lung puncture and bronchofiberscope to diagnose pulmonary tuberculosis, and to confirm it from operation if necessary.