Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Outcomes, Infection, Laboratory tests, Complications, CT-High Resolution, CT, Conventional radiography, Respiratory system, Mediastinum, Lung
Authors:
R. Khan1, N. I. Malik2, A. Razaque2; 1Karachi, Si/PK, 2Karachi/PK
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2019/C-3051
Background
Worldwide,
tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top 10 causes of death,
and the leading cause from a single infectious agent. Pakistan has an overwhelming burden of this disease and despite continuous efforts for early detection and treatment,
TB still remains one of the major health hazards for majority of the rural population.
Lung continues to be the most common site of involvement and even after completion of treatment residual changes remain which can affect the quality of life.
HOW COMMON IS POST TB SEQUELAE?
An observational study by Gohar Ali et al in Pakistan for post TB sequelae in patients treated successfully for TB showed that out of 155 patients only 11 (9%) patients had complete resolution of the disease whereas 91% patients developed post treatment parenchymal and pleural sequelae.
Most common sequelae was unilateral fibrosis with loss of lung volume in 33% and least coming was bilateral pleural thickening with fibrosis in 6%.
These statistics show that post TB sequelae is very common and should be diagnosed post treatment so that proper management can be done.
Pulmonary tuberculosis with parenchymal involvement is the most common form of tuberculosis.
Therefore,
it is not surprising to observe that the maximum number of residual lesions affect the parenchyma.
Very limited literature is present on post TB sequelae after completion of treatment and the purpose of this review is to show the spectrum of residual changes seen on patient’s chest radiograph (CXR) and computed tomography (CT) even after bacteriological cure.