Imaging findings of disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the imaging findings of disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).Methods X-ray and multi-slice CT (MSCT)data from 33 AIDS patients with disseminated pulnonary tuberculosis confirmed by clinical manifestations and laboratory tests were analyzed retrospectively.Results Thirty patients underwent initial chest radiography examination,29 patients showed abnormal appearances,including bilateral disseminations in 21 patients and unilateral multiple disseminations in 8 patients.All patients underwent MSCT examination,26 patients showed bilateral disseminations and 7 patients showed unilateral multiple disseminations.The abnormal pulmonary appearances included nodule (n =25),miliary nodule (n =22),air-space consolidation (n =22),cavity (n =11),fibrosis (n =7),ground-glass opacity (n =7),pneumatocele (n =4),calcification (n =2).There were 20 patients with more than 3 abnormal appearances and 13 patients with one or two abnormal appearances.The extra-pulmonary tuberculosis included pleural effusion (n =33),lymphadenopathy (n =30),intestinal tuberculosis (n =3),splenic tuberculosis (n =1) and cerebral tuberculosis (n =1).Conclusion Disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis should be highly suspected in AIDS patients with diffused nodules,miliary nodules,air-space consolidations or multiple cavities,accompanied with pleural effusion and lymphadenopathy.