Yield of EBUS-TBNA in the diagnosis of mediastinal tuberculous lymphadenopathy

<bold>Objective:</bold> The main objective of this study was to analyse the diagnostic yield of EBUS-TBNA for diagnosing mediastinal tuberculosis and to rule out multi drug resistance TB(MDR). <bold>Methods:</bold> This was a retrospective analysis over a period of two years between 2021 to 2023. In this study, records of patients with mediastinal lymphadenopathy who had undergone EBUS-TBNA were analysed. EBUS-TBNA tissue specimens were evaluated by histopathological examination and CBNAAT (where tuberculosis was clinically suspected). <bold>Results:</bold> Of 74 patients, 67.6% were male and 32.4% were female. The mean age was 50.23 years. The most common histological diagnosis was malignancy (36.5%), followed by granulomatous (28.4%) and reactive (13.5%). The diagnostic yield was 78.4%. Of the 28.4% patients with granulomatous inflammation tuberculosis and sarcoidosis were diagnosed in 23% and 5.4% respectively. TB-PCR was positive in 47.05% and multi drug resistance TB was detected in 11.7%. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> EBUS-TBNA is a useful tool in diagnosis of mediastinal tuberculous lymphadenitis and to rule out MDR-TB.