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
. 2025 Apr 2;17(4):e81632.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.81632. eCollection 2025 Apr.

Pulmonary Tuberculous Lesions: An Autopsy Study in Central Kerala, India

Hima A D  1 , Lesitha S  2 , Rajendra Prasad V K  3 , Sheeju P A  4 , Vasudevan P S  2 , Suryakala R Nair  5 , Shameem K Ummer Ali  2 , Reena John  5 , Sanjeev Nair  6
Affiliations

Pulmonary Tuberculous Lesions: An Autopsy Study in Central Kerala, India

Hima A D et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in India. While India is moving towards ending TB, estimating the TB burden is still a challenge. This study aims to assess the prevalence of pathologically active TB in the lungs of deceased persons undergoing autopsy.

Methods: The study group consisted of all cases undergoing autopsy during the study period (May 2021-October 2022). Tissue bits from the apex of both lungs were collected during the autopsy. Gross pathological examination of both lungs and microscopy of tissue bits were done. Proportion and 95% confidence intervals were estimated for the prevalence of pathologically active TB. A chi-square test was applied to determine the factors associated with pathologically active TB.

Results: A total of 311 subjects were included in the study, of which 244 were male (78%), and the mean age was 51.32 (±15.9) years. The most frequent cause of autopsy was road traffic accidents, followed by death due to hanging. The proportion of pathologically active TB was estimated to be 2.89% (95%CI: 1.53%-5.41%). Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) testing was done for a subset of 51 specimens, in which Mycobacterium tuberculosis was detected in only one case (1.96% (95%CI: 0.05%-10.45%)). Factors associated with the detection of lesions of TB were smoking, alcohol use, and prior history of TB.

Keywords: forensic autopsy; kerala; prevalence study; tuberculosis; “granuloma”.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve human participants or tissue. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Distribution of co-morbidities (N=311)
COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; TB: tuberculosis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation: GBD compare. [ Jun; 2023 ]. 2021. https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/ pp. 2023–2027.https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/
    1. The Global Health Observatory: Cause-specific mortality, 2000-2021. [ Jun; 2023 ]. 2021. https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-est... https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-est...
    1. Global Health Estimates: Life expectancy and leading causes of death and disability. 2021. https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/theme-details/GHO/mortality-and... https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/theme-details/GHO/mortality-and...
    1. Global Tuberculosis Report 2023. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2023. Global Tuberculosis Report 2023 [Internet]. [cited.
    1. National TB Prevalance Survey in India (2019-2021) Chennai, India: National institute for Research in Tuberculosis; [ May; 2025 ]. 2021. NATBPSReport.pdf [Internet]. [cited.

LinkOut - more resources