Introduction:

Tuberculosis (TB) is a communicable disease that is a major cause of illness and death worldwide. Risk factors for mortality in patients with extra pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) include certain sites of disease other coexisting conditions, including HIV/AIDS; low socioeconomic status, and national origin. The primary aim of this study is to identify the frequency and factors associated with different types of EPTB.

Methods:

This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Internal Medicine Inpatient and Outpatient Department at the Indus Hospital Karachi from Sep 2022 to May 2023 with a total of 193 patients diagnosed with clinically or bacteriologically proven EPTB, recruited in this study with informed consent. Patients were interviewed through a pre-designed questionnaire to obtain demographic information and end stage renal disease (ESRD) / chronic kidney disease (CKD) or HIV. Performa had also included questions regarding risk factors of EPTB.

Results:

The total number of the patients included were 193 among which are 62.69% (121/193) females & 37.31% (72/193) males with mean age of 31.23±14.9 years. Most frequent sites of EPTB were reported to be pleural (30.1%) followed by abdominal (28%) and lymph nodes (24.4%) primarily. Among associated and risk factors, 70.5% (137/193) patients experienced weight loss & 64.8% (125/193) patients were vaccinated for BCG, 55.4% (107/193) patients had a history of TB contact and among them 79.4% had Pulmonary TB contact. 81.3% (157/193) patients were new EPTB cases while 18.7% (36/193) had a previous history of TB. Almost 96% were on first line anti-tuberculous medications.

Conclusion:

Our study demonstrated that the common EPTB were pleural tuberculosis followed by abdominal and lymph nodes. The clinicians should be alert to the presence of concurrent tuberculosis in EPTB, and all suspected cases of EPTB should be assessed for concomitant PTB to determine whether the case is infectious and to help for early diagnosis and treatment.

Hiba Akber is affiliated with the Department of Internal Medicine at Indus Hospital and Health Network in Karachi, Pakistan. She contributes to advancing healthcare in the region through her expertise in internal medicine.