Bronchial findings in pulmonary tuberculosis.

A total of 297 bronchoscopies were performed on 238 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis at the Paivarinne Chest Hospital during the period 1967--1973. The tuberculous process was deemed active in 172 patients and inactive in 66. Active endobronchial tuberculosis was diagnosed in 20 patients, 11.6% of the active cases, whereas inactive sequelae of endobronchial tuberculosis appeared in 7% of the total material. Bronchography was performed on 163 patients; a normal bronchogram was obtained in 54% of the cases with minimal changes, 35% of the moderately advanced cases, 13% of the far advanced and 23% of the inactive cases. Sputum samples were more often positive for tubercle bacilli than the bronchial aspirates, and bacterial cultures from sputum samples were less reliable indicators of infection than were cultures from bronchial aspirates. Cytological smears revealed no difference between these two sampling methods.