[Chronic non-specific splanchnopathies in patients with lung tuberculosis]

The aim of this work was to study the frequency and structure of chronic splanchnopathies and their influence on the outcome of lung tuberculosis. Comorbidity was investigated in 1229 patients attending a regional TB dispensary. Pathogens isolated in 44.5% of the cases included 16.5% drug-resistant strains; certain patients (7%) developed drug resistance unrelated to the presence or absence of somatic pathology. Half of the patients (40.5%) had tuberculosis concomitant with chronic non-specific diseases; each third patient had several such diseases including gastrointestinal disorders in 28.2% and chronic pathology of other organs or systems in 19.4%. Tuberculosis most frequently associated with dysfunction of upper parts of the digestive tract, alcoholic disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Although the 99% probability of death from complications of tuberculosis was higher than from complications of concomitant pathology (chi2 = 47.9; p = 0.000), chronic internal diseases increased the likelihood of undesirable outcome of tuberculosis by 8.22%. Practically speaking, each tenth death among patients with tuberculosis was due to complications of a chronic non-specific disease. It means that such chronic conditions accompanying tuberculosis not only require additional therapy but also deteriorate the quality of life and prognosis of the underlying pathology.