EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS

A few weeks ago¹ we discussed the reasons why an early diagnosis was not oftener made in pulmonary tuberculosis. It seems possible that we emphasized too strongly the rôle played by the patient, judging from a recent paper by Stoll,² who thinks that the physician is more to blame than the patient. Stoll submitted to 150 tuberculous patients a series of questions asking how long they had been ill before consulting a physician, how long before they were properly examined, and how many months elapsed before they were told that they had tuberculosis and were instructed regarding the care of their sputum. The figures obtained showed that nearly 80 per cent. of the patients delayed over five months before consulting a physician. When they did seek medical advice 43 per cent, were not examined at the first consultation. Curiously enough the incipient cases consulted the physician earliest and