Abstract: Objective To understand the characteristic of new pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients detection from health examination in Songjiang district, in order to implement control and prevention measures in time.Methods The data of new registered patients with PTB in Songjiang from 2009 to 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic, clinical and bacteriological characteristics were compared between tuberculosis patients from health examination and others using Chi-square test.Results There were 176 new PTB cases (11.34%, 176/1552) detected from health examination who registered from 2009 to 2011 in Songjiang district. Among the 176 patients, there were mainly male cases (64.20%,113/176) and cases among floating population (75.00%,132/176). Patients aged 21-40 years old accounted for 67.05% (118/176). Compared to the patients detected from non-health examination (59.38%, 817/1376), 81.25% (143/176) of the health examination patients showed lesions in less than 2 lung fields, and the difference was statistically significant (χ²=31.661,P<0.05). Only 25.00% (44/176) of the patients detected from health examination was found with cavities, which was significantly lower than those from non-health examination (39.17%, 539/1376) (χ²=13.362,P<0.05). The positive sputum smear rate was 21.59%(38/176) and the positive sputum culture rate was 35.23% (62/176) for patients detected from health examination, both of which were significantly less than those in non-health examination (44.40%, 54.22%) (χ² values were 33.378 and 22.542 respectively, both P values were less than 0.05). Only 14.20% (25/176) of patients had delayed diagnosis, which was lower than that in non-health examination (42.01%, 578/1376) (χ²=50.765, P<0.05)Conclusion PTB cases can be detected from health examination at early stage. The new TB cases found in the health examination were mainly with mild symptoms and lower infectivity.