TABLE 5.

Description of 18 patients PCR positive (CTAB-Roche) but culture negative with no clinical diagnosis of tuberculosis

Patient	Samplea	HIV statusb	Absorbance value	Origin	Final diagnosis; outcomec
1	LNP	N	1.40	France	Hodgkin lymphoma; no active tuberculosis
2	CBd	N	1.30	France	Hemorragic rectocolitis, corticotherapy, “pyoderma gangrenosum”; no active tuberculosis
3	LNP	ND	0.95	Algeria	NP cancer, PPD positive; no active tuberculosis
4	PF	ND	0.53	France	Previous tuberculosis in 1956, lung adenocarcinosis; deceased
5	BM	P	1.70	France	Pneumocystis carinii infection, pulmonary and cutaneous Kaposi syndrome; lost for follow-up
6	BM	N	0.52	France	Chronic myeloid leukemia; bone marrow allograft (4/98), tuberculosis suspicion (10/98), deceased (11/98)
7	CM	N	0.31	Algeria	Lung adenocarcinosis; no active tuberculosis
8	TA	N	1.2	Algeria	Renal transplantation, anterior thoracic mass, adenocarcinosis; no active tuberculosis
9	PF	N	0.42	France	Chronic myeloid leukemia, nodular pneumopathy; no active tuberculosis
10	NB	ND	0.41	Tunisia	Lung epithelioid carcinoma; deceased (3/99)
11	HB	P	1.10	France	Previous tuberculosis, pulmonary adenocarcinoma, fever, abdominal pain, weight loss (08/98), treated with isoniazid, rifampin, azythromycin, myambutol; deceased (09/98)
12	PF	ND	1.30	France	Sarcoma, acute respiratory distress syndrome (11/98); deceased (11/98)
13	BM	P	0.36	Ivory Coast	Burkitt lymphoma, PPD negative, axillar adenopathy; no active tuberculosis
14	LNP	P	0.46	Ivory Coast	Cervical adenopathy; no active tuberculosis
15	LNP	ND	1.80	Italy	Cervical adenopathy; no active tuberculosis
16	LNB	P	0.44	France	Weight loss, VZV infection, hepatitis B, inginal, axillar and under-clavicular adenopathy; no active tuberculosis
17	SC	ND	1.30	Algeria	Hemoptysis, immunoglobulin synthesis deficit, previous pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis (1973); no active tuberculosis
18	LNP	N	1.10	North Africa	Cervical adenopathy; lost to follow-up

^aLNP, lymph node puncture; LNB, lymph node biopsy; BM, bone marrow; PF, pleural fluid; SC, synovial cyst; HB, hepatic biopsy; NB, nodular biopsy; TA,

^bN, negative; P, positive; ND, not done.

^cNP, nasopharyngeal; PPD, purified protein derivative (tuberculin test); VZV, varicella-zoster virus; dates are month/year.

^dTwo cutaneous biopsy specimens were tested for this patient.