Extrapulmonary tuberculosis: diagnostic features

Abstract

Objective. To study demographic, clinical characteristics and concomitant pathology of patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) in Gomel city and Gomel region for the period 2017-2021. To evaluate the informative value of different techniques for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) in non-respiratory samples in the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis.Materials and methods. A retrospective study of extrapulmonary tuberculosis cases registered from 2017 to 2021 in Gomel and Gomel region (308 patients) was carried out. The results of microscopic, bacteriological and molecular genetic methods of non-respiratory and respiratory samples relevant in the diagnosis of extrapulmonary forms of tuberculosis were analyzed.Results. Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with EPTB in Gomel and Gomel region for the period 20172021 were revealed. Concomitant pathology in patients with EPTB was analyzed, the features of EPTB diagnostics were studied. It was determined that EPTB is more susceptible to males aged 31 to 50 years and to women aged over 60 years. EPTB is more frequently diagnosed in patients from urban areas and when patients come to medical institutions with nonspecific complaints, except for intrathoracic lymph node tuberculosis (ITLN).Conclusion. In the structure of clinical forms of EPTB, lesions of bones and joints (62.7%) and intrathoracic lymph nodes (19.5%) predominate. HIV-positive patients are more common in the ITLN group. MBT is most often detected in the following localizations of extrapulmonary process: intrathoracic and peripheral lymph nodes, pleural tuberculosis. The most highly informative method of examination of biological nonrespiratory material for detection of MBT in extrapulmonary localization is molecular genetic study.