Tuberculosis has become completely curable with timely diagnosis and a full course of treatment, if all recommendations of medical specialists are followed. Starting in 2023, the standards of medical care for this disease have been improved in Ukraine to meet the latest recommendations of the World Health Organization.
One of the priority diagnostic methods is a microbiological test, which allows you to accurately determine the presence of the disease and prescribe effective treatment as quickly as possible. For this test, the patient provides sputum.
Typically, the first step is the molecular genetic test Xpert MTB/Rif, which not only confirms the presence of the disease within a few hours, but also determines its sensitivity to rifampicin, a drug often used in treatment. This method is also used to study other biological fluids, including feces in children who cannot yet cough up sputum. Currently, 286 Xpert MTB/Rif systems are operating in Ukraine.
Other methods of diagnosing tuberculosis include chest X-ray or computed tomography. Some countries use computer analysis based on artificial intelligence to analyze the results of X-rays, which accurately identifies tuberculosis from chest images. The first three regions in Ukraine to join the use of artificial intelligence in X-ray diagnostics are Lviv, Sumy and Ivano-Frankivsk.
Tuberculosis can affect not only the lungs, but also other organs. In extrapulmonary forms of the disease, ultrasound, bronchoscopy, and other methods are also used.
In cases where tuberculosis cannot be confirmed using the above methods, a biopsy is used to obtain material for further microbiological and morphological examination.
In modern Ukraine, all WHO-recommended methods of tuberculosis diagnosis are available. All services for the detection, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis are provided free of charge to patients.
