Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis at a regional hospital in Thailand

The purpose of this study was to analyze the cases of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) at Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital, a tertiary care regional hospital in Northeast Thailand. There were 398 cases of EPTB (46.9%) and 450 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) (53.1%). The mean age of EPTB patients (47.58 years) was lower than that of PTB patients (51.6 years) (p < 0.01). Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) seropositivity was found in 50 cases of EPTB (12.6%) and 55 cases of PTB (12.2%) which was not significantly different. The common sites of extra-pulmonary involvement were the lymph nodes (29.7%), followed by the pleura (27.4%), the bones and spine (25.1%), the meninges and brain (4.5%), the pericardium (3.5%) and the gastrointestinal tract (3.0%). Disseminated TB occurred in only 8 cases (2.0%). HIV seropositivity rates were more common in disseminated TB (OR 41.51, 95% CI 4.98-34.5), TB of the meninges and brain (OR 4.47, 95% CI 1.57-12.6) and TB of the lymph nodes (OR 3.49, 95% CI 1.86-6.54) and were less common in TB of the bones and spine (OR 0.05, 95% CI 0.01-0.37) and TB of the pleura (OR 0.24, 95%CI 0.09-0.63).