Abstract
Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is the leading cause of communicable disease-related deaths in people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide and in South Africa. Mycobacterium tuberculosis disseminates haematogenously from an active primary lung focus and may affect extra-pulmonary sites in up to 15% of patients. Extra-pulmonary TB may present with a normal chest radiograph, which often causes a significant diagnostic dilemma. This review describes the main sites of involvement in EPTB, which is illustrated by local imaging examples.
Highlights
Worldwide and in South Africa, tuberculosis (TB), a communicable airborne disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, remains the leading cause of death, followed closely by circulatory system diseases
A normal chest radiograph or negative laboratory tests do not exclude Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB), a diagnosis that necessitates a high index of suspicion, especially when the patient tests human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive.[3,4]
Tuberculosis remains a common diagnosis made on a daily basis by radiologists in South Africa, and is known to be a silent pandemic when misdiagnosed
Summary
Worldwide and in South Africa, tuberculosis (TB), a communicable airborne disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, remains the leading cause of death, followed closely by circulatory system diseases. Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) may be the result of haematogenous dissemination from an active primary focus in the lung to other organ system(s) in the body, and this may present years after the initial pulmonary infection.[3] A normal chest radiograph or negative laboratory tests do not exclude EPTB, a diagnosis that necessitates a high index of suspicion, especially when the patient tests HIV positive.[3,4]
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