The Value of Routinely Culturing for Tuberculosis During Bronchoscopies in an Intermediate Tuberculosis-Burden Country

PURPOSE Many medical centers routinely culture bronchoscopy samples for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, even when tuberculosis is not strongly suspected. The value of this practice, however, is controversial. We evaluated the role of that procedure in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in an intermediate tuberculosis-burden country. PATIENTS AND METHODS A prospective, observational study was conducted in a tertiary referral center and included 733 consecutive patients who underwent bronchoscopy examination. RESULTS M. tuberculosis was isolated in 47 patients (6.4%). According to radiographic features, the rate of positive culture for M. tuberculosis was relatively high in patients with atelectasis (5/33, 15.2%) and those with pulmonary infiltrations of suspicious infections (26/183, 14.2%). M. tuberculosis was isolated even in patients with pulmonary masses (9/266, 3.4%) and those with pulmonary nodules (5/175, 2.9%). In 16/47 (34.0%) patients with positive cultures for M. tuberculosis, active pulmonary tuberculosis was not suspected at the time of bronchoscopy. CONCLUSION These results suggest that routinely culturing for M. tuberculosis during bronchoscopy is still useful in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in an intermediate tuberculosis-burden country.