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Objectives. This study is aimed at evaluating the clinical application value of RNA simultaneous amplification and testing method for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (SAT-TB) combined with acid-fast staining in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Methods. This paper included 168 suspected and confirmed PTB sufferers admitted to The Sixth People’s Hospital of Wenzhou from December 2018 to December 2019, whose sputum was collected and tested using SAT-TB, smear acid-fast staining method, and the BACTEC MGIT 960 system. With the MGIT 960 culture test method as the gold standard, the application value of SAT-TB, acid-fast staining, or SAT-TB combined with acid-fast staining in the diagnosis and treatment of PTB was assessed. Results. With the MGIT 960 culture as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of SAT-TB for the diagnosis of PTB were 57.3%, 92.5%, 84.3%, and 73.5%, respectively. The conformity was 76.8%, and the Kappa value was 0.515, suggesting a statistically significant difference ( χ 2 = 7.314 , p < 0.05 ) and a general consistency degree. Additionally, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of SAT-TB combined with sputum smear acid-fast staining were 81.3%, 86.0%, 88.4%, and 80.8%, respectively, with the MGIT 960 culture still the gold standard. The conformity and Kappa value were 83.9% and 0.672, respectively, showing no statistically significant difference ( χ 2 = 0.438 , p > 0.05 ) and a relatively high consistency degree. Conclusion. SAT-TB combined with acid-fast staining had a similar detection rate to that of the MGIT 960 culture test with a high consistency degree, which could be applied in the diagnosis of PTB efficiently and accurately.

Introduction: To investigate the incidence, causes, and risk factors for unplanned readmission within 30 days of discharge in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Methodology: The clinical data of 1,062 patients with confirmed pulmonary TB who were admitted to our hospital from October 2018 to October 2021 were analysed retrospectively. The subjects were divided into a readmission group (354 cases) and a non-readmission group (708 cases) according to whether there was an unplanned admission within 30 days of discharge. We analysed the risk factors for unplanned readmission within 30 days after discharge with pulmonary TB. Results: The incidence of unplanned readmission in patients with pulmonary TB was 5.2%. Being female (OR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.434–0.942) and living in cities (OR = 0.218, 95% CI: 0.151–0.315) were protective factors for the readmission of patients with TB (p < 0.05). However, being ≥ 65 years old (OR = 2.574, 95% CI: 1.709–3.870), being a smoker (OR = 2.773, 95% CI: 1.751–4.390), having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (OR = 3.373, 95% CI: 1.708–6.660), having viral hepatitis (OR= 2.079, 95% CI: 1.067–4.052), receiving non-standard treatment (OR = 15.620, 95% CI: 10.413–23.431), having medical side effects (OR = 6.138, 95% CI: 3.798–9.922) and l unauthorised discharge (OR = 2.570, 95% CI: 1.509–4.376) were risk factors for the readmission to hospital of patients with TB (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Gender, age, place of residence, smoking, COPD, hepatitis, non-standard treatment, adverse drug reactions and unauthorised discharge were risk factors of TB for unplanned readmission.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine the value of the simultaneous amplification and testing for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in the diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).MethodsA total of 316 patients were selected, of which 197 had smear-negative PTB (observation group), and 119 did not have TB (control group). Bronchoscopy was performed in both groups, and BALF samples were collected for acid-fast bacilli smears, simultaneous amplification/testing for TB (SAT-TB), and BACTEC MGIT 960 cultures. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive, and negative predictive values of SAT-TB in BALF for the diagnosis of negative TB were calculated.ResultsThe sensitivity of SAT-TB detection was 45.18%, which was significantly higher than smears and slightly lower than cultures. The specificity of SAT-TB was 99.16%, which differed slightly from the other two methods. The positive predictive value was 98.89%, which was not significantly different from the other two methods. The negative predictive value of SAT-TB was 58.91%, which was higher than smears and slightly lower than cultures.ConclusionThe very high specificity and negative prediction of SAT-TB in BALF means that the method has great application value for the rapid diagnosis of smear-negative PTB.