[The method of endobronchial thermometry in the evaluation of the activity of tuberculosis of the respiratory organs].

Local temperature reactions were studied in 72 patients with intrathoracic tuberculosis (64 of them had active tuberculosis and 8 residual pulmonary changes after prior tuberculosis). Endobronchial thermometry in the dynamics of a specific process was conducted in 7 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Bronchial temperature was measured during fibrobronchoscopy under local anesthesia by a device of an original design. Marked thermoregulatory disturbances were found in the bronchi which were caused by a specific active process in the lungs and were manifested in a significant decline of endobronchial temperature as compared to normal values. Clinical recovery of pulmonary tuberculosis with the development of posttuberculous fibrous changes does not cause any disturbances in local temperature reactions. The temperature level in the bronchi is significantly affected by the nature and degree of the inflammatory process in the bronchi.