Pulmonary Tuberculosis among HIV/AIDS Patients: Chest X-ray Characteristics

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) constitute the main burden of infectious disease worldwide. Infection with HIV increases an individual’s risk to 20-fold of developing active TB. Chest X-ray (CXR) is one of the important tools used in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis among people living with HIV/AIDS. The spectrum of radiological findings varies according to HIV status and immunological status. This review designed to identify the common CXR findings encountered in pulmonary TB-HIV coinfection. The electronic search was in two main databases PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar were conducted using the search term: “Chest X-ray/radiological features/ Findings/ characteristics, pulmonary TB and HIV/AIDS co-infection”. It was found that typical radiological finding is closely related to the immunological status, where the atypical presentations were commonly reported in PTB-HIV confection. It could be included that interpretation of CXR in areas with a high prevalence of HIV-related TB necessitates interpreters to be provided with HIV status and the degree of immunosuppression.