[Tuberculosis in Italian and non-EU patients. Review of case mix (1996-2001)]

The Authors examined the case mix of patients with tuberculosis who were hospitalised from 1996 to the first 6 months of 2001 at the Infectious Disease Department. The patient population comprises two groups with different epidemiological characteristics. The first group consists of Italians [62] and the second of Non-EU patients [28]. The Italians have an older average age and their epidemiological and clinical risks are more serious in comparison to Non-EU's. Moreover, among Italian patients the number of subjects with HIV infection is greater. The presence of tuberculosis at the lymph nodes appears to be related to patients with HIV, whereas for HIV-negative patients the most frequent sites are the lungs and pleura. Some of the patients underwent biopsy in the sites affected by the pathology and the histopathological findings are very similar to the typical data. There does not seem to be any difference between the results of the X-rays of the lung X-rays for the Italians and the Non-EU's, whereas in general there are very few patients who show the typical location of tuberculosis at the apex of the lungs.