Research article: Chest radiographic findings and clinical correlates in newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients at Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital

Tóm tắt

Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, particularly in low and middle income countries. Despite the widespread use of chest X-ray (CXR), comprehensive data on clinical and radiographic features in newly diagnosed PTB patients remain limited. Objective: To describe the clinical profile, comorbidities, bacteriological status and radiographic features in newly diagnosed microbiologically confirmed PTB patients at Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital. Subjects and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted from January to December 2024 including 152 patients aged ≥18 years with newly diagnosed PTB confirmed by sputum smear, GeneXpert or culture. Clinical characteristics, comorbidities, nutritional status and CXR findings were collected and analyzed. Associations between CXR features and metabolic or nutritional status  were assessed using the Chi-square test. Results: The study population was predominantly male (75%), with most patients aged between 45–65 years (70.4%) and 40.1% classified as underweight. Comorbidities were common, particularly hypertension (34.9%) and diabetes mellitus (DM), which was present in 33.6% of cases. Fever (65.8%) and dry cough (48.7%) were the most frequent symptoms. Radiographic findings included consolidation (73%), fibrosis (65.6%) and cavitary lesions (32.2%). DM was significantly associated with consolidation, cavitation, fibrosis, and pneumothorax (p < 0.05), while BMI classification showed no significant correlation with most CXR abnormalities, except for nodular calcification (p = 0.01).