[Bronchoscopy in differential diagnosis of bronchial lesions in the cases of tuberculosis and oncologic processes]

The bronchoscopic investigation was performed in 15 467 patients treated for respiratory tuberculosis in the Central Military Clinical Tuberculous Hospital N 4 for the last 20 years. The bronchial tuberculosis was revealed in 1315 (8,5%) patients. Among them the tumoral process was detected in 113 (8,6%), including the central cancer--in 84 patients,and the peripheral cancer--in 29. According to initial diagnosis these patients were distributed in the following way: the infiltrative pulmonary tuberculosis was in 70 (1,9%), the exudative pleurisy-- in 14 (12,4%), the tuberculosis of intrathoracic lymph nodes-- in 8 (7,1%), the tuberculoma--in 8 (7,1%), the condition after operation for tuberculosis--in 5 (4,5%), the cavernous tuberculosis--in 3 (2,6%), the cirrhotic tuberculosis--in 3 (2,5%) and the pneumonia--in 2 (1,8%). The biological material was obtained with the use of direct biopsy, brush biopsy, guided catheter-biopsy and bronchoalveolar lavage. All bronchological findings were confirmed by cytological and histological examinations.