Chest Radiographic Pattern of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is a bacterial infection exhibiting significant rates of illness and death, causing 2-3 million annual fatalities all over the world. Developing countries are mostly affected, and the disease is associated with different chest radiographic patterns of presentations, which include pulmonary fibrosis, pleural effusion, lung consolidation, cavitation, hilar/mediastinal lymphadenopathy and disseminated miliary disease.Objective: The study was conducted to evaluate the radiographic presentation/pattern of PTB in adult patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.Methodology: This prospective study was conducted over a six-month period at the Radiology Department of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) Gwagwalada-Abuja, Nigeria. One hundred and thirty-two (132) adults who were bacteriologically proven to have pulmonary tuberculosis were recruited into the study and their digitally processed chest radiographs were reviewed directly on a computer console. Abnormal radiographic pulmonary features on the chest radiographs were identified and recorded on a data sheet.The data were analysed using SPSS software version 25.0. Armonk and results presented on tables and bar charts. The significant findings were highlighted, and P-values ≤ 0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results: Various radiographic features/pattern of PTB were demonstrated, which include: consolidations, pleural effusion, cavity, lymphadenopathy, milliary TB, lung collapse and lung destruction. Consolidations was the largest, constituting 106 (56.4%), while lymphadenopathy and lung destruction each accounted for 2 cases (1.1%).Conclusion: The radiographic pattern of PTB was evaluated and shows that lung consolidation is the most common pattern, with lung destruction and hilar lymphadenopathy being the least common. Thus on reporting chest radiograph those findings should be considered in PTB diagnosis.