ArticleAnnals of thoracic medicine
Diagnostic value of bronchoscopy in sputum-negative pulmonary tuberculosis patients and its correlation with clinicoradiological features.
Article in Annals of thoracic medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- QuantiFERON-TB gold test: a valuable diagnostic tool for tubercular uveitis in non-endemic regions.Infection · 2026Article
- The diagnostic yield of brushing versus non-brushing bronchoalveolar lavage fluid for Xpert MTB/RIF in patients with suspected tuberculosis: a prospective self-controlled study.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2026Article
- Clinical and Imaging Characteristics of Smear Negative Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients: A Comparative Study.Pulmonary medicine · 2024Article
- The Added Value of Bronchoalveolar Lavage for Pulmonary Tuberculosis Diagnosis in High-Risk Hospitalized Patients with Negative Sputum Samples.Advances in respiratory medicine · 2023Article
- Analysis of the utility of transbronchial lung biopsy culture under endobronchial ultrasonography with a guide-sheath.Scientific reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextTuberculosis (TB) remains endemic in Saudi Arabia. Little local data have been reported on bronchoscopic evaluation of sputum-negative pulmonary TB patients, which poses a significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenge.
aimsTo determine the diagnostic value of bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and its correlation with clinical and radiological features in sputum-negative, culture-confirmed pulmonary TB patients.
methodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of patients with definite or probable pulmonary TB with overall negative (smear and/or polymerase chain reaction [PCR]) or scanty sputum that had undergone bronchoscopy with BAL over a period of 5 years. Patients' symptoms, radiological features, lung lobe lavaged, BAL acid-fast bacilli (AFB) stain,
resultsOut of 154 patients, 49 (32%) were overall sputum negative and underwent a diagnostic bronchoscopy. Dry cough and fever were the most common symptoms. Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus was the most frequent comorbidity identified in 15 (31%) patients. Fifty-nine percent of the patients had diffuse lung infiltrates, with consolidation being the most common abnormality (41%), followed by cavitation (39%). Right upper lobe was the most frequent lung lobe lavaged (31%), while transbronchial lung biopsies (TBLB) were obtained in 21 (43%). BAL mycobacterial culture and MTB PCR were positive in 35 (71%) and 23 (47%) patients, respectively. Combined BAL MTB PCR and TBLB provided rapid diagnosis in 28 (57%) patients.
conclusionsAn overall diagnostic yield of 90% was achieved with combined use of BAL MTB PCR, culture, and histopathology. Upper lobe lavage and presence of cavities on chest imaging had a higher diagnostic yield.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.