An analysis of adult patients with pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis*

Abstract

Aim: In this study, it was planned to compare the features of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis patients over age 15 years. Materials and methods: We compared 360 newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) patients who were treated and followed up in Kahramanlar Tuberculosis Dispensary between 2000 and 2003, and were older than 15 years of age. The medical records of both patient groups were investigated in terms of age, sex, accompanying diseases, contact history and means of diagnosis. Results: The data were compared statistically between the 2 groups. Of these patients 78.1% were diagnosed with PTB while 21.9% were diagnosed with EPTB. The proportion of male patients was 79.3% in the PTB group and 49.4% in the EPTB group (P < 0.0001). According to the medical histories of the patients, the mean duration between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis was 85.75 ± 77.02 (days) in PTB patients and 193.65 ± 340.40 (days) in EPTB patients (P = 0.001). The rates of bacteriological diagnosis of tuberculosis were 95.37% in PTB patients and 5.06% in EPTB patients, which indicated a significantly higher rate of bacteriological diagnosis in PTB patients. Conclusion: There were statistically significant differences between the PT and EPT patients over 15 years, and EPT was found to be associated with female sex, a lower rate of bacteriological diagnosis, and delay in diagnosis.