Rapid discrimination between tuberculosis and sarcoidosis using next-generation sequencing.

Objectives: Tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), has similar clinical, radiological, and histopathological characteristics to sarcoidosis (SA). Accurately distinguishing SA from TB remains a clinical challenge.

Methods: A total of 44 TB patients and 47 SA patients who were clinically diagnosed using chest radiography, pathological examination, routine smear microscopy, and microbial culture were enrolled in this study.