The Prevalence of Active Tuberculosis Among Patients With Fibrotic Lesion in Chest CT-Scan

Abstract

Background: Since tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem that is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity among infectious diseases worldwide, early diagnosis and treatment are important to control an effective tuberculosis (TB) and also the increasing number of patients with atypical manifestations of active TB. It suggests more evaluation for active TB in fibrotic lesion in CT scan. Objectives: We evaluated patients with each respiratory complaints and apical fibrocalcification in chest CT scan to detect active TB. Patients and Methods: This study was an observational cross sectional study and was carried out from July 2010 to September 2011 in our teaching hospital. Patients with apical fibrocalcification or fibrocystic lesion in lung CT scan (regardless of the size), without history of TB or other diseases which can cause these lesions were enrolled, then sputum analysis was performed, and in case the result was negative, we did bronchoalveolar lavage for them. Results: We gathered 40 patients out of which 15 patients were women. The average age was calculated at 64 ± 8 years old. In total 6 patients had positive results. Conclusions: According to our observations fibrocalcified lesions should be evaluated for detecting M. tuberculosis particularly in the endemic regions.