[Differential diagnosis between tuberculosis and cancer of lung. Analysis of 65 tuberculosis cases diagnosed by fiber-bronchoscopy].

A series of 65 broncho-pulmonary TB simulating lung cancer with negative AFB in sputum were diagnosed by fiber-bronchoscopy. 60% of the cases were at the age of forty and over. According to the radiographic features, they could be divided into 3 varieties: (1) 31 cases showed mass or nodal shadow. 7 of the 11 cases with cavities mimicked cancer origin in appearance. (2) 30 cases showed atelectasis and segmental shadows with 16 cases in nonpredisposing location of TB. (3) 4 cases with diffuse interstitial and micronodular shadows were different from miliary TB. Of a total of 65 cases, 7 accompanied with hilar/mediastinum adenopathy. Using fiber-bronchoscopy, bronchial lesions were found in 24 cases (36.9%). TB diagnosed by pathological and bacteriological examination were 89.2% and 32.2% respectively. TB combined with squamous cell cancer of the lung was found in one patient. These data indicated that TBB and TBLB provided an effective method in the differential diagnosis of TB and cancer of lung.