ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major cause of morbidity and death worldwide, with a significant impact on children, especially those under the age of 5 years. The complex diagnosis of pediatric TB, compounded by limited access to more accurate diagnostic tests, underscores the need for improved tools to enhance diagnosis and care in resource-limited settings. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to present a telemedicine web platform, BITScreen PTB (Biomedical Image Technologies Screen for Pediatric Tuberculosis), aimed at improving the evaluation of pulmonary TB in children based on digital chest x-ray (CXR) imaging and clinical information in resource-limited settings. METHODS: The platform was evaluated by 3 independent expert readers through a retrospective assessment of a data set with 218 imaging examinations of children under 3 years of age, selected from a previous study performed in Mozambique. The key aspects assessed were the usability through a standardized questionnaire, the time needed to complete the assessment through the platform, the performance of the readers to identify TB cases based on the CXR, the association between the TB features identified in the CXRs and the initial diagnostic classification, and the interreader agreement of the global assessment and the radiological findings. RESULTS: The platform's usability and user satisfaction were evaluated using a questionnaire, which received an average rating of 4.4 (SD 0.59) out of 5. The average examination completion time ranged from 35 to 110 seconds. In addition, the study on CXR showed low sensitivity (16.3%-28.2%) but high specificity (91.1%-98.2%) in the assessment of the consensus case definition of pediatric TB using the platform. The CXR finding having a stronger association with the initial diagnostic classification was air space opacification (χ21>20.38, P<.001). The study found varying levels of interreader agreement, with moderate/substantial agreement for air space opacification (κ=0.54-0.67) and pleural effusion (κ=0.43-0.72). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the promising role of telemedicine platforms such as BITScreen PTB in enhancing pediatric TB diagnosis access, particularly in resource-limited settings. Additionally, these platforms could facilitate the multireader and systematic assessment of CXR in pediatric TB clinical studies.
ABSTRACT
Diagnosing pneumonia and identifying those requiring antibiotherapy remain challenging. Chest radiographs (CXR) are often used as the reference standard. We aimed to describe clinical characteristics, host-response biomarkers and etiology, and assess their relationship to CXR findings in children with pneumonia in Thimphu, Bhutan. Children between 2 and 59 months hospitalized with WHO-defined pneumonia were prospectively enrolled and classified into radiological endpoint and non-endpoint pneumonia. Blood and nasopharyngeal washing were collected for microbiological analyses and plasma levels of 11 host-response biomarkers were measured. Among 149 children with readable CXR, 39 (26.2%) presented with endpoint pneumonia. Identification of respiratory viruses was common, with no significant differences by radiological outcomes. No clinical sign was suggestive of radiological pneumonia, but children with radiological pneumonia presented higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein and procalcitonin. Markers of endothelial and immune activation had little accuracy for the reliable identification of radiological pneumonia.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The study aim was to describe the etiological profile and clinical characteristics of pneumonia among children hospitalized in Thimphu, Bhutan. METHODS: This prospective study enrolled children aged 2-59 months admitted to the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital with World Health Organization (WHO)-defined clinical pneumonia. Demographic and clinico-radiological data were collected through questionnaires, physical examination, and chest radiography. Blood samples and nasopharyngeal washing were collected for microbiological analysis including culture and molecular methods. RESULTS: From July 2017 to June 2018, 189 children were enrolled, of which 53.4% were infants. Pneumonia-related admissions were less frequent over the winter. Chest radiographies were obtained in 149 children; endpoints included pneumonia in 39 cases (26.2%), other infiltrates in 31 (20.8%), and were normal in 79 children (53.0%). Non-contaminated bacterial growth was detected in 8/152 (5.3%) blood cultures, with only two cases of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Viral detection in upper respiratory secretions was common, with at least one virus detected in 103/115 (89.6%). The three most-commonly isolated viruses were respiratory syncytial virus (52/115; 45.2%), rhinovirus (42/115; 36.5%), and human parainfluenza virus (19/115; 16.5%). A third of patients with viral infections showed mixed infections. Case fatality rate was 3.2% (6/189). CONCLUSION: Respiratory viral infections predominated among this cohort of WHO-defined clinical pneumonia cases, whereas bacterial aetiologies were uncommon, highlighting the epidemiologic transition that Bhutan seems to have reached.
Subject(s)
Pneumonia, Bacterial/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Bacterial/epidemiology , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Bacteria/isolation & purification , Bhutan/epidemiology , Child, Preschool , Cohort Studies , Coinfection/epidemiology , Demography , Female , Hospitalization , Humans , Infant , Male , Pneumonia/epidemiology , Pneumonia/mortality , Pneumonia, Bacterial/diagnostic imaging , Pneumonia, Bacterial/microbiology , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnostic imaging , Pneumonia, Viral/virology , Prospective Studies , Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human/isolation & purification , Respirovirus/isolation & purification , Rhinovirus/isolation & purification , Streptococcus pneumoniae/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
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