ABSTRACT Early, accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis is one of the major pillars of the control of the disease. The purpose of this consensus statement is to provide health professionals with the most current, useful evidence for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in Brazil. To that end, the Tuberculosis Committee of the Brazilian Thoracic Association brought together 14 members of the Association with recognized expertise in tuberculosis in Brazil to compose the statement.

A nonsystematic review of the following topics was carried out:

clinical diagnosis, bacteriological diagnosis, radiological diagnosis, histopathological diagnosis, diagnosis of tuberculosis in children, and diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection.