Radiographic Findings of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Adult Diabetic Patients' Comparison of Diabetics with Nondiabetics of no Other Underlying Diseases

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of our study is to evaluate the plain radiographic features of pulmonary tuberculosis in adult diabetic patients compared with those in patients without any underlying diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the chest PA and lateral views of 100 patients having active pulmonary tuberculosis;40 patients had diabetes mellitus and 60 patients had no other underlying diseases. images were assesed for anatomical distributions, extents of lesions, size and number of cavity and patterns radiographic findings. RESULTS: Diabetic tuberculosis had higher prevalence and wider involvement of unusual segments for the tuberculosis such as anterior segment, lingular segment of upper lobe and basal segment of the lower lobe, and they showed the tendency of having more cavities than those who had no other underlying diseases, but there were no meaningful differences in the cavity size between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Pulmonary tuberculosis in diabetic patients tends to have wider extent with unusual segmental involvement and multiple cavities than in the patients who had no other underlying diseases.