Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Background: Chest x-ray is central in screening and diagnosis of tuberculosis. However, sputum culture remains gold standard for diagnosis.
Aim: To establish the rate of normal chest x-rays in tuberculosis patients found by spot sputum culture screening, and compare them to a group identified through passive case finding.
Method: Chest x-rays from 39 culture-positive patients, identified by spot sputum culture screening in Copenhagen from 2012 to 2014, were included in the study (spot sputum culture group(SSC)). 39 normal chest x-rays from persons screened by mobile x-ray, and 39 chest x-rays from tuberculosis-patients identified through passive case finding(PCF) were anonymised and randomised. Two respiratory physicians and two radiologists assessed the chest x-rays.
Results: The normal chest x-ray rate was higher in the non-tuberculosis control group (median = 32 (82.1%), range = 74.4% - 100%), compared to the SSC group (median = 7 (17.9%), range = 10.3% - 33.3%), and the PCF controls (median = 3(7.7%), range = 2.6% - 15.4%). In the SSC group 14 (35.9%) were categorized as normal by at least one study participant.
Conclusion: A substantial minority of patients diagnosed with tuberculosis by spot sputum culture screening, and through passive case finding would not have been identified with chest x-ray alone, highlighting that a normal chest x-ray does not exclude pulmonary tuberculosis.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases |
Volume | 14 |
Pages (from-to) | 26-30 |
Number of pages | 5 |
ISSN | 2405-5794 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2019 |
ID: 58383321