Characterization of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in a University Hospital of Bogotá, Colombia

Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis is an airborne bacterial infection that causes at least 2 million deaths a year worldwide, mainly among people living in low-income countries. Its timely diagnosis affects the patient’s prognosis and is the mainstay of transmission control. Objective: To describe the epidemiological features, clinical profile and laboratory characteristics of new pulmonary tuberculosis cases at Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe, between 2008 and 2012. Materials and methods: We carried out a retrospective - descriptive study about the features of pulmonary tuberculosis diagnosed through culture at a private university fourth-level-complexity hospital, for a period of five years. Results: Obtaining complete information for 62 cases was achieved; the average age was 55.8 ; 43,5 % were women and 56,5 % men; 79% presented coughing, but only 40.3% were symptomatic respiratory, 14.5% were suffering COPD, 12.9% Diabetes Mellitus II, 4.8% HIV/AIDS, 38.7% were smokers, 9.7% were alcoholics, 30.6% were receiving immunosuppressive therapy, 11,3 % were health - care workers; 6.5% were smear-positive, 4.8% were MDR-TB and 3.2% died. One case was caused by Mycobacterium bovis. Conclusion: Aging, smoking, alcoholism, diabetes, undergoing immunosuppressive treatment and being a health-care worker were important risk factors among our patients. The smear microscopy was not useful for the disease diagnosis; the histopathology was very useful for fast-diagnosis for the disease; the drug–resistance percentage found was similar to that reported in Colombia. Key words: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Tuberculosis, Diabetes, HIV, Aging, Smoking, Alcoholism, Health-Care Worker, Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, Colombia.