The inconsistent definitions used for tuberculosis in the medical literature.

In order to assess the confusion attendant with current definitions of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, pleural and miliary disease, a set of 37 papers published which analyzed disease states were assessed for how the terms adhered to official definitions of the American Thoracic Society, the World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control. The findings showed uncertainties in the classification of extrapulmonary disease, a frequent inconsistency in the inclusion of pleural disease within pulmonary rather than extrapulmonary disease, and the ambivalent use of the terms pleural and disseminated tuberculosis. Further attention by editors and authors is needed in the use of tuberculosis definitions.