Abstract

Tuberculosis continues to be the one of the most important infectious cause of morbidity and mortality in India. Lungs are the portal of entry of Tuberculosis in the body. Lungs are the commonest site for tuberculosis disease. The disease in lungs varies from a small parenchymal lesion to disseminated disease. Aims and Objectives: -The objective of the study is to analyse the clinical presentation of pulmonary tuberculosis in adolescent (10-19 years). As against younger patients in whom extra pulmonary tuberculosis (T. B) is seen, adolescent usually have pulmonary lesions with an adult pattern of presentation. Material and Methods: -It was a cross-sectional hospital-based study with random selection study group. 138 adolescent patients visiting the OPD of RIMS, Ranchi hospital were included in the study. The gender of the patient, past history of tuberculosis, history of Koch’s contact, sputum smear results, x-ray features and management were taken into consideration. Results: - Out of 138 patients, 78 were girls and 60 were boys. All were between 10-19 years of age. Of all the 138 patients the x-ray features showed fibro-cavitary apical lesions in 58(42%) cases. 44(32%) were sputum positive and majority of them were girls. A significant number had history of Koch’s contact.Conclusion: - Adolescent females are more susceptible to pulmonary tuberculosis than males. Sputum smear positivity is found in a large proportion in adolescents. On radiology, adolescent have adult pattern of disease demonstrated by presence of apical cavitary lesion

Description

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