Making a Timely Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Making a timely diagnosis of adult-type pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is critical to interrupting transmission and optimizing treatment outcomes. A hypothesis based on clinical experience is that a timely diagnosis may be made by addressing seven clinical rubrics: six related to history, one to the la...

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Main Author: Richard Long
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015-01-01
Series:Canadian Respiratory Journal
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/826035
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author Richard Long
author_facet Richard Long
author_sort Richard Long
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description Making a timely diagnosis of adult-type pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is critical to interrupting transmission and optimizing treatment outcomes. A hypothesis based on clinical experience is that a timely diagnosis may be made by addressing seven clinical rubrics: six related to history, one to the laboratory. Responses may be considered to be part of a clinical heuristic for making a timely diagnosis of pulmonary TB. The larger the number of affirmative responses, the more likely the diagnosis, although it is probable some questions carry more weight than others. The radiograph is key and may almost be considered to be confirmatory of the history. Collectively, the responses should prompt suspicion of pulmonary TB – submission of sputum for acid-fast bacilli smear and culture, and respiratory isolation.
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spelling doaj-art-dc44ff8c034d42de8bd296f61eeff5c82025-08-20T03:23:56ZengWileyCanadian Respiratory Journal1198-22412015-01-0122631732110.1155/2015/826035Making a Timely Diagnosis of Pulmonary TuberculosisRichard Long0Tuberculosis Program Evaluation and Research Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaMaking a timely diagnosis of adult-type pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is critical to interrupting transmission and optimizing treatment outcomes. A hypothesis based on clinical experience is that a timely diagnosis may be made by addressing seven clinical rubrics: six related to history, one to the laboratory. Responses may be considered to be part of a clinical heuristic for making a timely diagnosis of pulmonary TB. The larger the number of affirmative responses, the more likely the diagnosis, although it is probable some questions carry more weight than others. The radiograph is key and may almost be considered to be confirmatory of the history. Collectively, the responses should prompt suspicion of pulmonary TB – submission of sputum for acid-fast bacilli smear and culture, and respiratory isolation.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/826035
spellingShingle Richard Long
Making a Timely Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
Canadian Respiratory Journal
title Making a Timely Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
title_full Making a Timely Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
title_fullStr Making a Timely Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
title_full_unstemmed Making a Timely Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
title_short Making a Timely Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis
title_sort making a timely diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/826035
work_keys_str_mv AT richardlong makingatimelydiagnosisofpulmonarytuberculosis