A report on the epidemiology of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis in Shahriar district in, 2008-2009

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is usually associated with pulmonary infections.However, it may affect any organ other than lungs in one third of patients. This study was conducted to assess the epidemiology of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis in patients referred to Shahriar Tuberculosis Center. In this cross-sectional study, new cases of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis were evaluated using statistical analysis. All patients were registered from April 2008 to March 2009. Out of 127 patients with tuberculosis, extra-pulmonary tuberculosis was diagnosed in 41(32.3%) cases with the mean age of 35.9±16.4(SD).There were 16(39%) males and 25(61%) females. Of these patients, 73.2% were Iranian and the others were Afghani. The sites commonly involved were lymph nodes (29.3%), bones and joints (17.1%), pleura (9.8%) and gastrointestinal tract (9.8%) respectively. Moreover,one patient (2.4%) was co-infected with HIV. Correct diagnosis of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis is a major obstacle for medicine because it resembles many other infections. Hence, proper screening tests should be carried out.