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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Does PTB In Respiratory Tract Mean?

Good day. Sir, just want to ask. I have been x-ray this last week. And the result is, i have a PTB in my upper left res. And when i do the sputum test, i was negative in 3times. My question is, do i still need to take the medicine that my doctor's gave me?
Thu, 19 May 2016
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hello, thanks for using Healthcaremagic. I had gone through the data you have posted. if there is suspicion of tuberculosis based on clinical data like
fever more than 2 weeks,with evening rise of temperature
cough more than 2 weeks
chest x ray showing upper lobe cavity
unintentional weight loss
we suspect TB and do sputum AFB. but in sputum TB bacilli to be detected the concentration needs to be >10000/ml of sputum.
so negative sputum test cannot rule out tuberculosis

we need more sensitive tests like GENE XPERT which has more sensitivity and sputum cluture for tuberculosis.

we may do CECT THORAX to look for characteristic apperance of tuberculosis as treatment cannot be delayed pending diagnosis awaiting sputum culture report which takes 1 month.

or do BRONCHOSCOPY and send sample for AFB stain, gram stain and culture, BAL fluid has more chamce of positivity than sputum

so these things needs to be discussed with your physician before starting therapy.
Hope this helps..
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What Does PTB In Respiratory Tract Mean?

Hello, thanks for using Healthcaremagic. I had gone through the data you have posted. if there is suspicion of tuberculosis based on clinical data like fever more than 2 weeks,with evening rise of temperature cough more than 2 weeks chest x ray showing upper lobe cavity unintentional weight loss we suspect TB and do sputum AFB. but in sputum TB bacilli to be detected the concentration needs to be 10000/ml of sputum. so negative sputum test cannot rule out tuberculosis we need more sensitive tests like GENE XPERT which has more sensitivity and sputum cluture for tuberculosis. we may do CECT THORAX to look for characteristic apperance of tuberculosis as treatment cannot be delayed pending diagnosis awaiting sputum culture report which takes 1 month. or do BRONCHOSCOPY and send sample for AFB stain, gram stain and culture, BAL fluid has more chamce of positivity than sputum so these things needs to be discussed with your physician before starting therapy. Hope this helps..