TY - JOUR T1 - Role of two-month sputum smears in predicting culture conversion in pulmonary tuberculosis JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/09031936.00007410 SP - erj00074-2010 AU - W-J. Su AU - J-Y. Feng AU - Y-C. Chiu AU - S-F. Huang AU - Y-C. Lee Y1 - 2010/01/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2010/06/01/09031936.00007410.abstract N2 - Sputum smears and cultures conversion is frequently used to evaluate treatment response in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Limited data are available on the evaluation of the correlation between under-treatment sputum smear results and culture conversion.This prospective study included sputum culture-proven pulmonary tuberculosis patients at six hospitals in Taiwan. At least two sets of sputum were collected at the completion of eight weeks of TB treatment. The sensitivities and specificities of 2-month sputum smears were estimated based on culture conversion status.A total of 371 patients were enrolled for analysis. Factors associated with culture conversion included smear positive before treatment, presence of cavity in radiography, rifampicin resistance, and usage of the DOTS strategy. The sensitivities of 2-month sputum smears for culture conversion among overall patients, initial smear positive patients, and initial smear negative patients were 64.3%, 71.4% and 38%, respectively, and the specificities were 81.6%, 69.9%, and 92.8%, respectively. In patients who were 2-month sputum smear positive, the 2-month culture conversion rate was 80% if the patients were under DOTS and without cavitary lesions in radiograms.The predictive value of 2-month sputum smears in culture conversion was limited and highly influenced by clinical factors in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. ER -