[Active pulmonary tuberculosis in the community. Current presentation].

OBJECTIVE

To discover how patients in a provincial general hospital, diagnosed as having pulmonary tuberculosis had first clinically and radiologically presented.

DESIGN

This was a retrospective observational study. SITE. The San Jorge de Huesca General Hospital. The period of study was between January, 1986, and December, 1989.

PATIENTS AND OTHERS

PARTICIPANTS

Those studied were the 59 patients diagnosed as having active pulmonary tuberculosis during the study period.

MAIN MEASUREMENTS AND

RESULTS

The average age of the patients was 45.6 +/- 19.25 SD. There was greater occurrence in males. The most common form in which the disease first appeared was thoracic symptomatology (59%), followed by constitutional syndrome (45.7%). 8 patients were addicted to drugs taken parenterally (ADVP), of whom 4 were HIV-positive (6.8%). The most common radiological pattern was ulcero-caseous.

CONCLUSIONS

We underline the importance of diagnostical awareness at the Primary Care level in order to rapidly begin the correct treatment; and thus fight the adverse epidemiological situation caused by tuberculosis today.