Source: Annual Congress 2003 - Clinical features in tuberculosis - I
Disease area: Respiratory infections

Abstract

We retrospectively studied pleural tuberculosis (PTB) in 203 HIV negative patients, 137 (67.4%) men and 66 (32.5%) women, median age 39.5 years, admitted on our section between January 2000 to December 2002, divided in two groups: under 40 years, 111 cases (54.6%) and over 40 years 92 (45.3%). Under 40 years the majority of patients (67.2%) had isolated pleurisy with acute thoracic pain, cough and fever in 60% and familial TB antecedents in 25.2%. PTB and lung TB (LTB) was more frequent over 40 years (59.7%) with previous treatment in 20.6%. These patients presented cough, dyspnea, weight loss in 70% and radiological-nodular superior lobes lesions in 47.9%. There where no significant differences in the biochemical and cytological characteristics of the pleural fluid between the two groups. In the second group, the most common associated diseases for 13 patients were various neoplastic diseases, diabetes mellitus, schizophrenia and renal failure. Out of total 92 patients with PLT and LTB, 42.8% had positive sputum cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. There were 21.2% positive cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the pleural fluid, of the 203 patients. We concluded that classical PTB as a form of primary TB characterizes young adults. Over 40 years PTB is more frequent in patients with various coexisting diseases, or accompanies different forms of pulmonary TB with high bacillary burden.

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M. N. Zlatev-Ionescu, I. M. Tiron, O. I. Nicolaescu, E. D. Ciomu, L. G. Ambert, D. G. Mocanescu, A. M. V. Trailescu (Bucharest, Romania). Tuberculous pleural effusion. Eur Respir J 2003; 22: Suppl. 45, 990

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