Pulmonary tuberculoma, to resect or not to resect: a systematic review

Introduction: Pulmonary tuberculomas usually present as a solitary pulmonary nodule. Pulmonary tuberculoma is difficult to differentiate from lung cancer. The treatment should follow the multiple disciplinary teams. Method: This systematic review aims to summarize the effectiveness of pulmonary tuberculoma treatment, including the response to anti-tuberculosis treatment or surgical resection. PubMed, Wiley, Cochrane, ProQuest, and ScienceDirect were searched for any design study that showed the cure rate of pulmonary tuberculoma treatment, with surgical resection or the used of anti-tuberculosis treatment. Result: Four studies were identified and analyzed from 288 initial articles. Data were then extracted from the studies and summarized descriptively. Two hundred eighty-eight articles were screened, and four studies were identified and eventually selected. The cure rate of pulmonary tuberculoma increased in patients with surgical procedures compared with medical treatment (only anti-tuberculosis treatment). Pulmonary tuberculoma responds poorly to anti-tuberculosis treatment and often requires long-term treatment. Conclusion: The treatment of tuberculoma with surgical resection works effectively, with better short- and long-term effects for tuberculoma. Surgical resection was effective in increasing the cure rate of pulmonary tuberculoma. Pulmonary resection in combination with post-operative anti-tuberculosis treatment results in excellent cure rate.