The status of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in community hospital

Abstract

Fifty patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis were diagnosed at 4 community hospitals in Tokyo during 1981 to 1992. The percentage of extrapulmonary tuberculosis among the all types of tuberculosis was 10.5% as a whole, and 16% in females and 7.9% in males. The number of patients older than fifth generation was about two times more than that of younger generations. And the patients were more in males than in females under the forties, but were more in females than in males over the sixties. On chest radiogram, there was no pathological findings in 52% of the patients and active pulmonary tuberculosis was detected in 32% of the patients. The majority of the extrapulmonary tuberculosis (30 cases, 60%) was of lymph nodes, especially of cervical lymph nodes, and the remaining were 10 cases of tuberculosis in bone and joint, 4 each in intestine and pericardium, 2 each in liver, peritoneum, kidney, urinary bladder, epididymis and skin. Among 30 cases with tuberculous lymphadenopathy, the disease were observed in cervical lymph nodes by 19 cases, in pulmonary hilar and axillary node by each 4 cases and in abdominal cavity by 3 cases.