| Popis: |
SUMMARY A clinicopathologic correlation with microbiologic observations was performed on resected tuberculous lesions from 19 patients. Four of the 19 patients were considered as controls. Fourteen of the remainder had received from 4 to 12 months of chemotherapy preoperatively and showed morphologic evidence of cavity closure. One had received 11 months of chemotherapy preoperatively and showed evidence of an open cavity with healing. The recovery of viable tubercle bacilli from the 4 control patients and also from 11 of the 15 original and retreatment patients has been reported. No correlation between the presence of viable tubercle bacilli in tuberculous lesions and duration of chemotherapy, drug regimens used, duration of the preoperative period, noninfectiousness, or the anatomic nature of the lesions could be demonstrated in this study. Based on the findings reported herein, inspissated cavities with communicating bronchi, after prolonged chemotherapy on regimens universally used today, are potentially dangerous in a high percentage of cases. We should like to express our thanks to Mr. Massy M. Nakamura, for the illustrations in this article. |
