Clinical and radiographic features of pulmonary tuberculosis in non-AIDS immunocompromised patients.

SETTING

Department of Chest Diseases, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the clinical and radiographic presentation of pulmonary tuberculosis in non-AIDS immunocompromised patients (ICP).

DESIGN

A retrospective review of medical records of 143 patients (63 immunocompromised patients and 80 immunocompetent patients) with pulmonary tuberculosis from 1992 to 2001.

RESULTS

In ICPs, fever was more frequently observed (84.1% vs. 40%, P = 0.0000002), tuberculosis was more frequently disseminated (23.8 vs. 3.8%, P = 0.0008), and lung infiltrations were more often lobar or segmental consolidation (20.6% vs. 0%, P = 0.00007) and miliary lesions (17.5 vs. 3.8%, P = 0.014) than in the control patients. Hilar and/or mediastinal adenopathy was also more frequently documented in ICPs (14.3% vs. 2.5%, P = 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Fever, atypical chest radiograph and disseminated disease are common findings of pulmonary tuberculosis in ICPs.