Cavitary Disease and Quantitative Sputum Bacillary Load in Cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

• Published in: Journal of Clinical Microbiology Vol. 45; no. 12; pp. 4064 - 4066
• Main Authors: Palaci, Moises, Dietze, Reynaldo, Hadad, David Jamil, Ribeiro, Fabiola Karla Corrêa, Peres, Renata Lyrio, Vinhas, Solange Alves, Maciel, Ethel Leonor Noia, do Valle Dettoni, Valdério, Horter, Libby, Boom, W. Henry, Johnson, John L, Eisenach, Kathleen D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for Microbiology 01-12-2007; American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the respiratory system; Biological and medical sciences; Colony Count, Microbial; Female; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mycobacteriology and Aerobic Actinomycetes; Mycobacterium; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - isolation & purification; Sputum - microbiology; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - microbiology; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - pathology; Infection; Lung disease; Respiratory disease; Sputum; Pulmonary tuberculosis; Bacteriosis; Mycobacterial infection; Quantitative analysis
• ISSN: 0095-1137; 1098-660X; 1098-5530
• DOI: 10.1128/JCM.01780-07

We examined sputum bacterial loads in adults with newly diagnosed tuberculosis using quantitative culture and time-until-positive (DTP) culture in BACTEC 460. Patients with cavitary disease had higher CFU levels than those without cavities and shorter DTPs. Within radiographic strata of moderately and far advanced tuberculosis, higher CFU counts were associated with cavitary disease.