[Tuberculosis and AIDS: various clinical and epidemiological aspects in 72 Cuban patients].

72 AIDS patients with tuberculosis diagnosis discharged from "Pedro Kouri" Tropical Medicine Institute between January, 1997, and March, 2001, were included in the research aimed at studying tuberculosis in HIV/AIDS patients. A descriptive and retrospective design was used and clinical, epidemiological and microbiological variables were described. The CD4 T lymphocytes count was also determined. Males prevailed (72.2% of the cases) with an average age of 30.83 years old and 4.82 average years between the HIV serodiagnosis and tuberculosis. In 48.6% of the cases, AIDS was defined due to tuberculosis. Cough, expectoration, fever of unknown origin, night sweating and weight loss were the most frequent symptoms. The mean CD4 count was 179 cells per mm3. 76.4% had less than 200 cells per mm3 (p < 0.05). Pulmonary tuberculosis was the form of presentation in 79.2% of the patients without association with the immunosuppresion degree. The chest X-ray showed alterations in 83.3% of the cases, the inflammatory infiltrate of the bases, and the mediastinal and pleural taking were the most representative. The positivity rate of baciloscopy was 45.8%, whereas the culture was positive in 62.4% of the patients (p < 0.05). The results of the previous tests were not significantly associated with the mean CD4 count. Anergy to tuberculin was reported in 50 patients (69.4%) (p < 0.05). The CD4 mean in the anergic patients (109 cells) was markedly lower than in the rest (403 cells) (p = 0.0009).