Tuberculosis in Pediatric patients in Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To document the complete disease spectrum of tuberculosis (TB) in children diagnosed and treated fortuberculosis in Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital.

Methods: This study was a retrospective descriptive study. Medical records of 70 pediatric patients diagnosed andtreated with antituberculous drugs in Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital between January 2006 and December2010 were reviewed. The data were collected, analyzed and presented by descriptive statistics.

Results: According to the Thai National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) guidelines, only 62 from 70 cases receivedantituberculosis treatment were diagnosed with tuberculosis (88.6%). The spectrum of disease included: 66.1%intra-thoracic TB, 22.6% extra-thoracic TB and 11.3% with coexisting intrathoracic and extrathoracic TB.Cervical lymphadenopathy is the most common type of extrathoracic TB. In HIV-infected children under theage of 3, complicated lymph node disease and coexisting intrathoracic and extrathoracic TB were morecommon than non-HIV infected children over the age of 3.

Conclusion: Thai NTP guidelines improved the diagnosis of childhood TB. The most common disease entity wasintra-thoracic TB (66.1%). Complicated lymph node disease and coexisting intrathoracic and extrathoracic TBwere documented predominantly in children under 3-year-old and infected with HIV.