DIAGNOSTIC RELIABILITY OF ACID-FAST BACILLI DEMONSTRATED IN ASPIRATED GASTRIC CONTENTS

Abstract

A series of specimens obtained by gastric aspiration from patients in a tuberculosis hospital has been examined for acid-fast bacilli by smear and culture. Most specimens which were positive for acid-fast bacilli on microscopy were also positive on culture. The demonstration of acid-fast bacilli by microscopy of gastric aspirations from patients suspected of having pulmonary tuberculosis is as reliable for purposes of early diagnosis as demonstration in the sputum. Acid-fast bacilli other than M. tuberculosis were rarely found in smears of gastric aspirations. The smears of specimens from which unclassified mycobacteria were cultured were negative in all but one instance.