Spontaneously Healed Asymptomatic Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Abstract

We investigated the relationships between spontaneously healed asymptomatic pulmonary tuberculosis (SHAPTB), airflow obstruction (AFO), and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings. We selected 82 participants with SHAPTB diagnosed by interferon-γ release assay and 8044 with normal chest radiographs (CXR). We applied a CT scoring system for the extent of tuberculous sequelae to correlate the HRCT findings with pulmonary function test. We compared the AFO prevalence between subjects with and without SHAPTB. The subjects with SHAPTB diagnosed by interferon-γ release assay had a significantly higher prevalence of AFO (13.4% [11/82]) than those with normal CXR (7.4% [595/8044]). The important HRCT findings that correlated with AFO were the number of lung segments with TB sequelae and the CT score for emphysema. The subjects with SHAPTB had a higher AFO prevalence than those with normal CXR, and the important HRCT findings correlated with AFO were the extent of tuberculous sequelae and emphysema.