Role of Bronchial Washing Gene Xpert in Sputum-Scarce Cases of Suspected Pulmonary Tuberculosis

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of mycobacterium tuberculosis detection, in bronchial washing in sputum-scarce cases of suspected pulmonary tuberculosis. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, during July 2016 to December 2017. Sputum-scarce patients with suspicion of pulmonary tuberculosis were selected and underwent for bronchoscopy, detailed examination of bronchial tree was performed, and bronchial washing collected for testing of mycobacterium tuberculosis with Gene Xpert. RESULTS: A total of 120 patients were included. In this study 55 (45.8%) patients were female and 65 (54.2%) were male with mean±SD of age was 39.9 ±14.7 years. Bronchial washing Gene Xpert for mycobacterium tuberculosis was detected in 83 (69.2%) sputum-scarce cases of suspected pulmonary tuberculosis patients. CONCLUSION: Bronchial washing Gene Xpert has an excellent diagnostic yield for detection of mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum-scarce cases of suspected pulmonary tuberculosis.