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Comprehensive neurologic and ophthalmologic examinations of 100 patients with morphologically verified sarcoidosis showed the most frequent involvement of optic nerves and less incident lesions of the eye proper and its appendages. Vision disorders were detected in 39.0 patients, chiasmal disorders in 12.0%. Fundus oculi abnormalities were found in 27.0% of patients. A specific feature of vision disorders in sarcoidosis was that almost half of the patients did not feel them, which may be explained by a predominantly chronic latent pattern of these disorders and by the fact that, despite manifest disorders of peripheral vision, central vision with correction remained normal for a longer time.

The material is based on the autopsy findings collected over 15 years (1975-1989). Findings related to 748 fatal outcomes were subjected to analysis in which 90 (12%) cases were misdiagnosed regarding the principal disease. A percentage of diagnostic errors with respect to tuberculosis was 1.8 on the whole and in the diagnosis of clinical forms and phases it was considerably higher-15.9 and 19.4, respectively. Hyperdiagnosis was typical of disseminated tuberculosis and caseous pneumonia, while hypodiagnosis--of primary, fibrocavernous tuberculosis and post-tuberculous changes. A percentage of hypodiagnosis in nontuberculous pathology varied from 12.5 to 50. Dynamic observation by the five-year plans demonstrated an increase in the percentage of misdiagnosis of the concurrent pathology and its decrease when the phase of a specific process was established. Purely medical errors accounted for 75% of misdiagnosis.

Under consideration is the diagnosis and treatment of different forms of staphylococcic destruction of the lung in children. The immediate and late results of treatment are studied. Application of the intensive therapy in association with different surgical interventions enabled the authors to obtain good immediate and late results in children with staphylococcic destruction of the lung.

During a 5-year period (from 1983 to 1987) 81 patients died within the first year after detection of tuberculosis. Among them, 42 patients died of advanced tuberculosis because of their late hospitalization. In 13 of them, the death causes were due to diagnostic mistakes. Twenty five patients died of concomitant chronic diseases. Eight patients died of malignant, fulminating and/or therapy-resistant tuberculosis. Four patients died because there were mistakes in their treatment. Two patients died after operations for pulmonary tuberculosis. The real possibility for decreasing the tuberculosis death rate lies in higher diagnostic skill of general physicians in regard to phthisiology at the prehospital stage and that of phthisiologists at the hospital stage with respect to emergency and gerontological cases and selection of patients for surgical treatment.

The causes of difficulties with making up the staff of physicians in tuberculosis institutions and its long terms were analyzed. The need of phthisiologists was studied according to the applications of the health departments from 8 central regions of the RSFSR. The initiative and experience of the Tuberculosis Chair of the Ryazan Medical Institute with specialized training of subinterns in phthisiology are described.