So-Called "Incipient" Tuberculosis

To the Editor:  —Is it correct to use the expression "incipient pulmonary tuberculosis" when we wish to describe a pulmonary condition which has existed unchanged for months and possibly years?The National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis gives the following definition of incipient or beginning tuberculosis:Slight or no constitutional symptoms (including particularly gastrointestinal disturbances, or rapid loss of weight).Slight or no elevation of temperature or acceleration of the pulse at any time during the twenty-four hours.Expectoration is usually small in amount or is absent. Tubercle bacilli may or may not be present.Slight infiltration limited to the apex of one or both lungs or a small part of one lobe.No tuberculous complications.This definition indicates the farthest extent of lesion or disease possible to be classified as incipient tuberculosis. This corresponds closely with the Turban-Gerhardt scale, or Turban 1, defined as a slight