Extrapulmonary tuberculosis in the northeastern suburbs of Paris: 141 cases

Background: Big cities were particularly affected by tuberculosis in the 1990s. Methods: We studied 141 cases of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in patients not infected by HIV in the northeastern suburbs of Paris. Results: A total of 84 men and 57 women were included in the study. Their average age at diagnosis was 42.2 years. Some 73.6% of the patients were foreign-born. A total of 182 sites were identified in 141 patients. There was an association with pulmonary tuberculosis in 38 cases. The sites were: lymph node (48.9%), pleural (25.5%), skeletal (22.7%), genitourinary (5.7%), and meninges (5%). Unfavorable social conditions were frequently observed. The average duration of treatment was 10 months. Twenty-four adverse drug effects were noted. Sixty-eight strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were isolated. Five cases of primary resistance to at least one antituberculous drug and only one case of multidrug resistance were observed. Some 95.7% of the 93 patients who were not lost to follow up were cured. Conclusion: Independently of HIV infection, extrapulmonary tuberculosis is still present, particularly in the suburbs of big cities, where social conditions are poor. The significant number of patients lost to follow-up demands that measures be adapted for the therapeutic management of these patients.