Costo-efectividad de los métodos de diagnóstico de la tuberculosis

tuberculosis can be a silent disease that can progress into chronic and irreversible forms leading to incapacitaron and death; not rarely the diagnosis in made at the autopsy table. lung tuberculosis is diagnosed by readily avaible methods; extrapulmonary tuberculosis diagnosis may require biopsy material. the usual laboratory diagnosis includes ziehl-neelsen smears for acid fast bacilli fluorescence techniques and lowestein-jensen cultures; for body fluids, new procedures include polymerase chain reaction and adenosine deaminase. the mycobacterium growth identification tube culture allows a quicker identification of mycobacteria and earlier medical treatment, preventing the progression of tb and potential appearance of complications that represent a heavy monetary burden for the responsible institutions. this study presents the advantages and cost-effectiveness of several diagnostic procedures for tb, pondering the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of each one.