[Which type of tuberculosis predominates in cases newly diagnosed during mass radiography? (author's transl)]

12.8 millions roentgenograms, 288,000 of which showed suspicious lesions, were made during the past 25 years by the Tuberculosis Committee of Rheinland-Westfalen. They were analysed with the view of finding whether and to what extent the features of tuberculosis had changed during this period. Although severe tertiary forms of the disease had not entirely disappeared, minimal asymptomatic lesions now tended to predominate when first diagnosed--evidence of the valuable contribution made by mass radiography towards the eradication of tuberculosis. However, the picture changes somewhat if the extent of the tuberculous process is related to the number of patients in need of treatment including cases of re-activation. These figures have remained remarkably constant, viz.: the percentage of cases of unilateral tuberculosis localized to one lobe was 50-54%, of bilateral tuberculosis confined to one lobe was 22-25%; the figures for unilateral and bilateral tuberculosis involving more than one lobe were 10-13 and 10-14% respectively. The type of tuberculosis discovered during voluntary mass radiography in Rheinland-Westfalen do not yet signal an end to the proven methods of tuberculosis control.