Clinico-Epidemiological Profile and Diagnostic Procedures of Tuberculosis in Children: A Retrospective Study from OPD of Tertiary Care Center in Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Childhood Tuberculosis (TB) is an important cause of mortality and morbidity, which causes a significant TB burden in developing countries. Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe clinical profile and diagnostic procedures used in outpatient department (OPD) of a tertiary care hospital. Methods: It was a retrospective study conducted in OPD of Paediatrics Department, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Shahbag, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Age range of studied populations, 3 months to 18 years who presented with clinical features of TB and were later diagnosed with tuberculosis according to national guidelines for the management of tuberculosis in children, 2021 were enrolled in this study. A total of 108 diagnosed cases of Tuberculosis between August 2021 and July 2022 were enrolled in this study. Data were collected from OPD records and transferred into MS excel sheet for data processing & analysis. Results: Among 834 suspected patients, 108 patients aged 3 months to 18 years were diagnosed with tuberculosis. The highest number of cases 47 (43.51%) were found in 11 - 18 years age group. Gender distribution of the patient showed 58 (53.70%) were male and 50 (46.29%) were female. Among 108 TB cases, 44 (40.74%) were pulmonary TB and 64 (59.25%) were extrapulmonary Tb. Among 64 extrapulmonary TB cases 38 (59.37%) cases were diagnosed as TB lymphadenitis. Fever 83 (76.85%), weight loss 62 (57.4%), cough 50 (46.29%), lump in neck and axilla 38 (35.18%) were found in most of the cases. A positive Mantoux test was found in 68 (62.96%) patients. Chest x-ray findings showed patchy opacity and consolidation in 46 (42.59%) cases. Suggestive FNAC from lymph node was observed among 35 (32.4%) cases. For bacteriological confirmation sputum gene Xpert and stool xpert ultra were positive among 10 (9.25%) and 23 (21.29%) cases. Conclusion: In this study, extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) cases were more than pulmonary TB (PTB) in children. Diagnosis of tuberculosis was based on clinical suspicion supported by various investigations especially bacteriological detection with stool X pert ultra in children.