Chest X-ray as an alternative method of making a preliminary diagnosis in patients with susceptible or drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND: Making a preliminary diagnosis using X-ray methods for the study of resistant and resistant tuberculosis (TB) will help to make a preliminary diagnosis and determine further tactics for the treatment of TB, even with limited resources for microbiological diagnosis of drug resistance of TB. The present study was aimed at identifying chest X-ray differences between susceptible and resistant TB.

METHODS: A prospective cohort study of data from all consecutive patients with culture-confirmed pulmonary TB admitted during the year to the Kharkiv TB Dispensary No. 1 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-eight patients with lung TB were examined. Patients were divided into two groups: 1st patients with pulmonary TB with resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) to at least isoniazid and rifampicin (resistant TB) and 2nd pulmonary TB with preserved susceptibility of MTB to anti-TB drugs (susceptible-TB). Patients of 1st group often had lesions in two lobes of the lungs 31.1% and one lung 43.3% versus 15.4% and 2.6% of patients with susceptible TB (P < 0.001). In addition, more than 3 cavities in the lungs 45.5% were significantly more often observed in patients with resistant TB versus 7.9%-the 2nd group (P < 0.001). Smaller cavities were observed in patients with susceptible TB up to 1.99 cm 74% versus 35.2% in 1st group (P < 0.001). We did not observe any significant radiological features depending on the right or left lung, as well as the lobar localization of the TB process.

CONCLUSIONS: For resistant forms of TB, radiologically, a more widespread TB process in the lungs with the presence of a larger number of cavities and their larger size against a background of a more pronounced clinical picture and mycobacterium excretion than with susceptible TB is characteristic.