Extrapulmonary tuberculosis in children under the age of 15 hospitalized at the Pereira Rossell Hospital Center, Uruguay

Abstract

Tuberculosis is a public health problem. Children constitute a population at risk of becoming ill and evolving into serious forms. To describe the frequency, epidemiological, clinical and evolutionary characteristics of children under 15 years of age hospitalized for extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) at the Pereira Rossell Hospital-Uruguay, during 2009-2019. Descriptive, retrospective study, review of medical records and records of the Honorary Commission for the Fight Against Tuberculosis. age, sex, epidemiological and clinical link, diagnostic confirmation, treatment and complications. 77 cases of EPTB were registered, 45 (58%) were hospitalized in this center. Average age 7 years, males 25 (56%). All received the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine. An epidemiological link was identified in 28 (62%). The forms of EPTB were: pleural 26 (58%), central nervous system (CNS) 9 (20%), lymphoganglionic 4 (9%), cutaneous 2 (5%), bone 1 (2%), peritoneal 1 (2%), pleural- peritoneal 1 (2%), bone-CNS 1 (2%). Etiology was confirmed in 23 (51%): by culture 16, GeneXpert 5, by both 2. Thirty-six (80%) patients completed treatment. Four (9%) presented complications: convulsive state 2, cerebral hemorrhage 1, multiple organ failure 1. EPTB occurred in previously healthy children. The diagnosis requires a high index of suspicion and the confirmation of the simultaneous use of several diagnostic techniques.