Differences and similarities between the symptoms and clinical signs in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and pneumonia

Abstract

Background/Aim. Tuberculosis in the second decade of the 21st century is an infectious disease with the highest mortality rate. In addition, in developed countries, pneumonia is the major couse of morbidity and mortality in adults. The aim of our study was to point out the differences and similarities between symptoms, laboratory parameters and clinical indicators in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and patients with pneumonia in the general population and in people belonging to the high risk groups for developing tuberculosis. Methods. This prospective study included patients with PTB (n = 70) and pneumonia (n = 75) treated at the Pulmonology Department of Clinical Hospital Center in Kosovska Mitrovica. Results. PTB was more frequent in men, 30-39 years of age (OR; 6:08), mainly from rural areas (p = 0.001), and with lower levels of education (p = 0.031). Pneumonia was more frequent in women older than 60 years of age (p = 0.0012). Night sweats (p = 0.001) and weight loss (p = 0.062) were significantly more frequent in patients with PTB, while chest pain (p = 0.001) and high temperature (p = 0.036) were more common in patients with pneumonia. X-ray changes in patients with PTB were located in the upper fields (p = 0.001), or appeared to be bilateral (p = 0.004). The strongest predictor associated with an increased risk of night sweats was diagnosed PTB (OR = 30.0). The chest pain was a predictor of pneumonia, unilateral changes (OR = 4.65) in the lower lung fields (OR = 0.08). Conclusion. Night sweats, weight loss and chest X-ray abnormalities in upper fields were significant indicators of PTB. Chest pain, fever and chest X-ray abnormalities in lower fields were significant indicators of pneumonia.

Diagnostic challenges and Gene-Xpert utility in detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis among suspected cases of Pulmonary tuberculosis

“…In this study, among 120 male and 115 female participants, the males were affected significantly more than the females (p<0.01). This sex disparity among the reported PTB case findings corresponds to the findings by Goroh MMD et al [ 5 ], Behr MA et al [ 14 ], Hernández-Garduño E et al [ 15 ], Tostmann A et al [ 17 ], Linguissi LS et al [ 25 ], Zhang X et al [ 26 ] and Smiljić S et al [ 27 ].…”

“…Although all the age groups were affected, PTB was comparatively more common (p<0.05) in the 25–44 year-old group. Goroh MMD et al [ 5 ], Zhang X et al [ 26 ] and Smiljić S et al [ 27 ] found the same trend in their studies, in which the same age group had the highest number of TB patients, and Linguissi LS et al [ 25 ] reported that the median (IQR) age for PTB patients was 32 (25–46) years. By contrast, Tostmann A et al [ 17 ] reported the highest affected age group to be 15–34 years old, which is partly within the 25–44 year age group but comparatively lower.…”

“…There was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the smear-positive controls and presumptive cases in presenting persistent cough, loss of appetite, and loss of weight. Smiljić S et al [ 27 ] and Appleton SC [ 31 ] found cough, fever, weight loss, and night sweats to be the prevalent symptoms.…”

An application of ANFIS for Lung Diseases Early Detection System

“…Pneumonia and pulmonary TB have some of the same symptoms. However, there are some more specific symptoms that make handling differently for each disease [23]. The main symptom for lung cancer is cough, but it also can be detected by patient behavior [24].…”

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of smear-positive and smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis

“…Ovi simptomi na taj način zaslužuju da se preporuče kao indikatori SNTBC dijagnoze u antituberkuloznom dispanzeru. Morbiditet i mortalitet povezan sa kasnom dijagnozom SNTBC može biti smanjena sa ovom strategijom [18,19,20].…”