I'm trying to make sense of my mom's test results and I'm really worried. Her sputum test for AFB culture came back negative after three weeks, but the Genexpert test showed positive. The CT scan also revealed she has a "tree in bud" pattern infection along with a small mass lesion. I'm confused and concerned if this points to TB, some other kind of infection, or even something like cancer. Could you help explain what all this might mean?
Pulmonologist opinion is advised to the patient.