Project Description

Author: Noor et al.

Summary:

Introduction

Chest X-ray is an important diagnostic aid frequently used alongside microscopic smear of sputum for the confirmation of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). However, there is a dearth of literature investigating the clinical and radiological pattern of sputum positive pulmonary TB among adults in Bangladesh. The current study explored these patterns in presentation.

Method

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at outpatients in department of medicine of a tertiary care hospital. A total of 50 newly diagnosed adult cases of smear positive pulmonary TB attending at the Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) corners were consecutively included. Informed written consent was taken before inclusion. Data were collected through face-to-face interview. Radiological presentation was explored using chest X-ray. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 26. All procedure was conducted following the Declarations of Helsinki.

Results

The average age of patients was 41 (17.12) years (SD) and majority were male (78%). The most prevalent respiratory symptom was cough (80%) followed by constitutional symptom like fever (70%) and weight loss (72%). Wasting was the predominant sign (60%). Radiologically both lungs were involved in 32%, left lung were involved in 30% cases, and right lung were involvedin 26% of cases. Twelve percentage of patients had normal chest X-ray. Upper zone involvement was commonly observed in our patients (66%). The predominant pattern was consolidation (46%) followed by fibrosis (26%), nodular opacity (12%), collapse (10%), cavity (6%), pleural effusion (2%) and bronchiectasis (2%).

Conclusion

Findings of this study would help familiarize and identify the common clinical and radiological presentations of sputum positive pulmonary TB patients in day-to-day practice.

Status: Ongoing

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