Clinical, Radiological and Spirometric Analysis of Treated Tuberculosis Patients-A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Post-Tuberculosis (TB) complications may involve the lungs, mediastinum, pleura, chest wall, or any combination of these structures. It can also affect the caliber of the airways which might lead to the increase in their resistance and decrease in the airflow, severely impairing the quality of life. Due to a lack of controlled trials in this population, no evidence-based recommendations for the investigation and management of post-TB complications are currently available.

Aim: To study the clinical symptoms, radiological involvement and the spirometry pattern of previously treated TB patients.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shri MP Shah Government Medical College and Guru Govind Singh Government Hospital, Jamnagar, from July 2018 to December 2019. Total 102 patients with history of TB and currently sputum negative were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent clinical examination, microbiological examination, chest radiograph, and spirometry. Data was collected from case record form and entered into MS Excel spreadsheet 2016. Data analysis was done in Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) software version 26.0.

Results: Out of the 102 patients, there were 66 (64.71%) males and 36 (35.29%) females. Of the study population, 13 (12.74%) was asymptomatic, 7 (6.86%) had dyspnoea, 17 (16.66%) had cough and 65 (63.72%) had both cough and dyspnoea. Spirometry analysis revealed that 26 (25.49%) were normal, 6 (5.88%) had restrictive pattern, 69 (67.64%) had obstructive pattern and 1 (0.98%) had mixed pattern. Chest radiograph revealed unilateral chest involvement in 78 patients (76.47%) and 24 patients (23.52%) had bilateral chest involvement.

Conclusion: There is high prevalence of post-TB pulmonary disability causing clinical symptoms, radiological involvement and spirometry changes and thus should be assessed early to prevent further complications.