Observations on Genito-urinary Tuberculosis: (Section of Urology)

Early and reliable diagnosis is obtained by cultural methods.Pyelographic evidence of renal destruction is necessary as a rule to supplement the positive laboratory findings before resorting to nephrectomy.Bilateral renal tuberculosis should not be diagnosed on the findings of cystoscopy alone.Nephro-ureterectomy is the ideal operation. It prevents the prolongation of the bladder symptoms and the breaking-down of the operation wound and the risk of another operation for the removal of the ureter, not forgetting the danger of infection of the other kidney.Bad results are probably due, in the case of poor patients, to economic and sociological factors which interfere with restoration to health after operation.Genito-urinary tuberculosis is to be regarded not as a localized disorder but as a manifestation of a generalized disease, a fact which necessitates a guarded prognosis and prolonged after-treatment.