title: Clinical and radiological analysis of children and adolescents with tuberculosis in Bahia, Brazil.
abstract: We reviewed the clinical and radiological characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) in children and adolescents at the Hospital Especializado Octávio Mangabeira, (HEOM) in Salvador, Bahia. This study included 275 TB patients aged 1 to 15 years seen between January 1990 and November 2001. Standardized forms were filled out on the basis of a review of patient records and x-rays. Through a retrospective and descriptive analysis, it was found that 51.6% were male, 35.3% were aged 1 to 5 years, 28% were aged 6 to 10 and 36.7% were aged 11 to 15. Among all patients, 79.6% lived in the city of Salvador. A history of contact with TB was found in 63.9%, most frequently among children under 5 years old; 77.2% were vaccinated with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). The most frequently observed symptoms were coughing (76%), fever (73.1%) weight loss (53.1%), and 4.7% were asymptomatic. Pulmonary TB was most frequent (57.8%) and extra-pulmonary TB occurred in 24.4%, with a predominance of hilar adenopathy. Both forms occurred simultaneously in 17.8%. In 53.1% of the cases the diagnosis was not determined by bacteriology or pathological anatomy; in these cases diagnosis was reached through clinical and radiological criteria, contact history, a tuberculin test > or = 10mm and a positive response to tuberculostatic drugs.
authors.affiliation: Children's Outpatient Pneumology Department, Octávio Mangabeira Hospital, Salvador, BA, Brazil. rosanafranco@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Rosana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: Maria Angélica
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Santana
authors.forename: Eliana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Matos
authors.forename: Virgínia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: Antônio Carlos M
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Lemos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001500:BCG Vaccine; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014374:Tuberculin Test; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D001500:BCG Vaccine