Pediatric tuberculosis in Turkey: A review of 8-years period in a tertiary care hospital

BAYHAN G. İ., Tanır G., Metin Ö., ŞİMŞEK H., AYDIN TEKE T., Öz F. N., ...More

Turkish Journal of Pediatrics, vol.57, no.5, pp.431-438, 2015 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 57 Issue: 5
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Journal Name: Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Page Numbers: pp.431-438
  • Keywords: Chest X-ray, Childhood, Computedtomography, Lymhadenopathy, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
  • Gazi University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical, radiological, microbiological characteristics, side effects of anti-TB drugs and treatment outcome of childhood definite or probable TB. The medical records of all childhood TB patients were investigated in the department of pediatric infectious disease of a tertiary care hospital between January 2005 and December 2012. Patients who followed-up until the anti-TB treatment was completed were included in the study. One hundred forty four pediatric cases with active TB were included in the study (27 definite, 117 probable). Twenty-four (16.7 %) patients were asymptomatic at admission. Pulmonary TB was the most common type. The most common localizations for extrapulmonary TB were superficial lymphadenitis. An index case was detected in 39.6% of the patients. In conclusion, the absence of constitutional symptoms does not exclude TB. Household contact screening plays an important role in the diagnosis of childhood TB especially in asymptomatic patients.