The role of smear microscopy of induced sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in patients with initial smear-negative: A prospective study

Several studies have compared the diagnostic value of sputum induction (SI) with flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis; however, these investigations yield an inconsistent conclusion. This study aims to evaluate the role of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) testing of SI and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples in suspected pulmonary tuberculosis cases.