Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Dec 1;64(6):544-547.
doi: 10.1093/tropej/fmy007.

Spectrum of Pediatric Tuberculosis in a Tertiary Care Setting in South India

Betsy Rebecca  1 , Anila Chacko  1 , Valsan Verghese  1 , Winsley Rose  1
Affiliations

Spectrum of Pediatric Tuberculosis in a Tertiary Care Setting in South India

Betsy Rebecca et al. J Trop Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Pediatric tuberculosis (TB) is often underdiagnosed with poor estimate of its true burden. Availability of Xpert MTB/RIF assay enhances diagnostic capacity of pediatric TB.

Methods: A 3-year retrospective review of hospital records was done for all children diagnosed with confirmed and unconfirmed TB. Comparison was made between intrathoracic, single-site extrathoracic and disseminated TB.

Results: In total, 274 children had TB with 130 (47.4%) having confirmed TB. Pulmonary (23.4%), lymph node (23%) and central nervous system (12.8%) TB were the three commonest forms. HIV TB coinfection was 2.9%. Mycobacterial culture was positive in 90 (32.8%) and XPert MTB/RIF in 85 patients (31%). Mycobacterial confirmation was obtained in 45 (56.3%) intrathoracic TB, 69 (45.4%) extrathoracic TB and 16 (38.1%) disseminated TB. Correlation between positive Xpert and mycobacterial culture was poor (kappa 0.38). Rifampicin resistance was present in 25 (19.2%) of the 130 microbiologically confirmed TB.

Conclusion: Extrathoracic TB is common in children. Mycobacterial confirmation in pediatric TB is improved with use of Xpert.

PubMed Disclaimer