Tuberculosis has become completely curable, provided timely diagnosis and a full course of treatment, if all the recommendations of medical specialists are followed. Starting from 2023, the standards of medical care for this disease were 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 soon as possible. To perform this test, the patient provides sputum.
Usually, the molecular genetic method of Xpert MTB/Rif research is used first, which in a few hours not only confirms the presence of the disease, but also determines the 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 operate in Ukraine.
Other methods of diagnosing tuberculosis include X-ray or computed tomography of the chest. To analyze the results of X-rays, in some countries, computer analysis based on artificial intelligence is used, which accurately determines tuberculosis from images of the chest. The three first regions in Ukraine that joined 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. For extrapulmonary forms of the disease, ultrasound examination, bronchoscopy and other methods are also used.
In cases where it is not possible to confirm tuberculosis using the above methods, a biopsy is used to obtain material for further microbiological and morphological research.
In modern Ukraine, all methods of diagnosis of tuberculosis recommended by WHO are available. All services for the detection, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis are provided free of charge to patients.
