Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We aimed to evaluate the complete blood count (CBC) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) of confirmed extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) patients attending clinic at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu. A total of 90 confirmed extra-pulmonary tuberculosis patients consisting of male (n = 38) and female (n = 52), aged 15 to 60 years attending clinic participated in this study. CBC and ESR were analysed using Haematological Auto Analyzer and Westergren method respectively. Haemoglobin and haematocrit values across the three age groups (15-30, 31-45, 46-60 years) were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than the control value in both male and female extra-pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, white blood count, platelet and neutrophil values across the three were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the control values in both male and female extra-pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis was observed more in females than the males and was relatively higher in older patients (above 46 years) than younger patients (below 46 years). This study was able to show that different haematological parameters such as haemoglobin, haematocrit, Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, white blood count, platelet and neutrophil could serve as hallmark and help in early diagnosis of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis.
Highlights
Tuberculosis is an airborne infectious disease that most commonly affects the lungs where it is called pulmonary tuberculosis
A total of 90 confirmed extra-pulmonary tuberculosis patients and 30 healthy controls participated in this study
This study revealed more female extrapulmonary tuberculosis patients than males
Summary
Tuberculosis is an airborne infectious disease that most commonly affects the lungs where it is called pulmonary tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in Nigeria, a country of 169 million inhabitants, with the country currently ranking 10th among the 22 high TB burden countries of the world and fourth highest in Africa (after South Africa, Ethiopia and DR Congo) [2]. Out of 97,853 notified TB cases in 2012, 52,901 (59%) were confirmed through smear-microscopy, 32,972 (37%) were based on a clinical diagnosis (smear-negative), and only 4,432 (5%) were extra-pulmonary TB. Results from the national TB prevalence survey in Nigeria have provided a robust direct measurement of TB disease burden in the country for the first time. Before survey results became available, indirect estimates of TB disease burden were calculated based mainly on reported TB case notification data and expert opinion about the levels of under reporting and under diagnosis of cases. The prevalence of TB disease varied geographically, and was considerably higher in urban compared with rural areas [6]
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