Dr Amol Bhanushali, thoracic surgeon at the Centre for Lung Surgery at Dr Bhanushali Hospital, Thane, has called on patients across Maharashtra who have completed tuberculosis treatment but continue to cough blood, run recurring chest infections or remain breathless to be assessed by a thoracic surgeon rather than restarted on medication alone.
TB can be cured while leaving lasting damage behind. Healed cavities in the lung can be colonised by the Aspergillus fungus, forming a fungal ball known as an aspergilloma, which can bleed suddenly and heavily. Other complications of tuberculosis include empyema, a collection of pus around the lung that leaves it trapped under a thick rind, bronchiectasis, narrowing of the airways from scar tissue, and destroyed lung, where a whole lobe or lung no longer works.
"Families tell me the TB is finished, the reports are negative, and yet the patient is still coughing blood every few weeks," said Dr Amol Bhanushali, Medical Director, Dr Bhanushali Hospital. "The bacteria are gone. The hole they made is not. Another course of tablets will not close a cavity or peel a rind off a lung. That needs a surgeon to look at the scan."
Bronchial artery embolisation can stop bleeding from an aspergilloma in the short term, but bleeding returns in 40 to 60 percent of patients within a year because the cavity remains. Surgical options include segmentectomy or lobectomy to remove the damaged section, decortication to free a trapped lung, and pleurodesis for recurrent fluid. Minimally invasive VATS is used where the disease allows, and open surgery for dense, adherent disease. Treatment is coordinated with the patient's pulmonologist, and anti-TB medication continues where required.
Dr Bhanushali serves as Honorary Thoracic Surgeon at the Municipal TB Hospital, Sewri, Mumbai, alongside his practice in Thane.
Patients looking for lung surgery in Maharashtra for TB complications can book a consultation at the Thane centre.
About Dr Bhanushali Hospital and Centre for Lung Surgery
Dr Bhanushali Hospital in Thane, near Mumbai, houses a dedicated Centre for Lung Surgery led by Dr Amol Bhanushali, a thoracic surgeon with over 15 years of experience trained at Tata Memorial Hospital, Cedars Sinai Medical Centre and Medanta. The centre performs minimally invasive and open thoracic procedures for tuberculosis, lung cancer and other chest conditions.