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[An epidemiological study of pulmonary tuberculosis in inpatients]
A Fernández Revuelta1, P Arazo Garcés, J M Aguirre
1Servicio de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital Miguel Servet, Zaragoza.
Objective:
To evaluate the profile of the patient admitted to hospital with pulmonary tuberculosis and the clinical-radiological signs and symptoms of the illness.
Design:
A descriptive, retrospective study.
Setting:
The study was carried out in the Miguel Servet Hospital in Zaragoza.
Patients And Other Participants:
Patients over 14 who were admitted for pulmonary tuberculosis between 1985 and june 1990 and who fulfilled the requisite diagnostic criteria.
Measurements And Main Results:
Out of the 423 patients studied, 75.17% were male. Average age of the whole sample was 45.9. 31% were retired. 55% (232 cases) had factors predisposing to tuberculosis. The 12% were infected by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). The most common presentation symptoms were coughing and the radiological semeiology of condensation. In 22.7% there was extrapulmonary tubercular infection, most commonly in ganglia. Delay in diagnosis was over three months in 19.8% of the cases.
Conclusions:
Tuberculosis is a common illness in our ambit and particularly affects those patients with underlying pathology. Given that there are still important delays in diagnosis, doctors need to be highly aware of the possibility.