Foreword

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At one time operative surgery played a major role in the treatment of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis; however, nowadays in most developed countries tuberculosis is thought of as a disease of the past, due to the introduction of effective chemotherapy decades ago. Many physicians practicing today may never see a patient with this disease. Unfortunately, worldwide, there will be 9 million new cases of tuberculosis this year, many of which are drug resistant. In this issue of Current Problems in Surgery Dr. A. Thomas Pezzella and Dr. Wentao Fang from the Shanghai Chest Hospital in China review the surgical aspects of tuberculosis. Their treatise is actually a thorough review of the disease, including its clinical presentation, diagnosis, and medical treatment; however, the major portion of the monograph is devoted to surgical management. This is an excellent contribution, which provides a sole source reference, which will be essential reading for surgeons treating patients with this complex disease.