The roles of radiology and ESR in the diagnosis of tuberculosis in young military males in Iraq

Abstract

ABSTRACTObjective: To describe the radiological findings of active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and /or tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) in adult males, to determine the site and extent of lesions and test the significance of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in these patients.Patients and methods: A retrospective observational study of two hundred and sixty two military male patients with PTB and /or TPE with their age ranging from 25 to 40 years. Data were collected from the medical records at the Mosul General Hospital (which was a military hospital prior to 2003), during the period from July1995 to June 2002. Results: The radiologic lesions of PTB were most commonly seen in the upper zones, (74% P-value 0.0001). TPE was more commonly involving the right side (64%). ESR value was found to be elevated in most of the patients (84%).Conclusion: PTB was seen mostly in the upper zones, TPE has more predilections to the right side. The ESR is still a useful test in the diagnosis of tuberculosis.

Keywords

ESR, tuberculosis