Comparison of bronchial brushing and sputum in detection of pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis

The retrospective study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of bronchial brushing and sputum using acid fast bacilli smear, mycobacterial culture and real-time PCR in detection of pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis, sensitivity and specificity of bronchial brushing and sputum examined by the three methods were calculated and compared to each other. Data showed there were no significant difference in sensitivity between bronchial brushing and matched sputum using each method. But the specificity of real-time PCR on bronchial brushing was lower than on sputum. Compared with bronchial brushing, sputum was better specimen in detection of pediatric pulmonary tuberculosis.