Abstract

Although the diagnosis and treatment protocols of tuberculosis have been developed sufficiently, tuberculosis is still common problem on worldwide especially people living countries with low socioeconomic conditions. However tuberculosis can affect all organs and systems, lungs are the most affected ones. In this study, we aimed to present the retrospective data of samples based on Erlich-Zielhl-Neelsen (EZN) staining and culture results on Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) slides from January 1999 to December 2002. Samples obtained from patients suspected tuberculosis were sputum samples (n: 1740), urine samples (n: 864), BAL samples (n: 498), SSF samples (n: 671), abdominal flue samples (n: 93), pleural fluids samples (n: 255), intraartricular fluids samples (n:10) and wound-abscess samples (n: 95). The percentage of positive results is 4.1 % for direct microscopic examination and 4.6 % for culture results. The most positive results were obtained from sputum samples (46.1 %). We have concluded that in respect to the conditions of our region, these data show the way for new investigations.