title: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis: 7 year-experience of a tertiary center in Istanbul.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although a decreasing trend of tuberculosis (TB) was reported in Turkey, higher proportion of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPT) was revealed.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this retrospective study, clinical and laboratory data of 141 EPT patients were evaluated for a seven-year period by using descriptive statistics, and parametric and non-parametric tests where appropriate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most frequent types of EPT were meningeal TB (23%) and TB lymphadenitis (21%), respectively. Other types of EPT were skeletal, miliary, peritoneal, abscess, genitourinarial, cutaneous and gastrointestinal involvement which ranged between 18% and 1%. Mean age was 42 and female/male ratio was almost equal. All patients were born in Turkey. Although all of them were permanent residents of Istanbul, 73% of the patients came from East and Southeast Region of Turkey. For the patients, being older than 40 years old (p<0.01), having miliary TB (p<0.05) and high CRP levels (p<0.05) were found to be associated with mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EPT still remains as a significant morbidity and mortality reason in lower income populations and developing countries. In our study, although all patients were residents of Istanbul approximately two thirds of them have migrated from East and Southeast parts of the country. The relatively high prevalence of tuberculosis cases in Istanbul may be due to the permanent migration from other parts of the country. Early diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment are the keys for reducing morbidity and mortality in patients with EPT, particularly in the cases of older ages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Sisli Etfal Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: dileky26@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Dılek Yıldız
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Sevgi
authors.forename: Okan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Derin
authors.forename: Alı Seydı
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Alpay
authors.forename: Alper
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gündüz
authors.forename: Ahmet Sanlı
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Konuklar
authors.forename: Banu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bayraktar
authors.forename: Emin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bulut
authors.forename: Nuray
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Uzun
authors.forename: Emıne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sonmez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014395:Peritonitis, Tuberculous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014382:Tuberculosis, Cutaneous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014385:Tuberculosis, Gastrointestinal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014388:Tuberculosis, Lymph Node / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014390:Tuberculosis, Meningeal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014391:Tuberculosis, Miliary / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014394:Tuberculosis, Osteoarticular / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis; Istanbul; Turkey