[Pulmonary tuberculosis in persons from 4 municipalities in the City of Havana and diagnosed at university hospitals].

A retrospective, descriptive and exploratory study on the frequency of tuberculosis diagnosis in patients from 4 municipalities of the City of Havana was undertaken. Of a total number of 195 TB-suspected cases, 25 showed enough evidence recorded in their medical histories and 10 of them were finally diagnosed with tuberculosis: 5 BAAR(+) and 5 BAAR(-). Delay in getting acid-fast bacilli test results was 3 days or less in 75% of cases, being two days the mean value. Clinic and X-rays were the main elements to support a possible tuberculosis diagnosis. Both general and respiratory symptoms such as cough and expectoration prevailed as a cause of admission of these tuberculosis-suspected individuals. It seems that there is an adequate control over diagnosis and treatment but not over data collection, although evidence of subdiagnosis or subnotification, or both were not found. Further detailed studies are required