Abdominal tuberculosis: Diagnosis and demographics, a 10-year retrospective review from a single centre

Table 1 Age and ethnicity of patients with abdominal tuberculosis

	Number	Mean age	Median age
South Asian	34 (52.3%)	42.3	39.5
African	25 (38.5%)	36.1	35
European	5 (7.7%)	72.4	69
Caribbean	1 (1.5%)	28	28

Table 2 Chest radiograph findings n (%)

Findings	Number of patients (n = 64)
Normal	44 (68.9)
Consolidation	11 (17.2)
Pleural effusion	3 (4.7)
Lymphadenopathy (para-tracheal, hilar)	6 (9.4)
Apical scarring	1 (1.6)
Nodularity	5 (7.8)
Focal lesion	1 (1.6)
Pleural thickening	1 (1.6)
Multiple radiographic features	7 (10.9)
Mention of tuberculosis in differential	6 (9.4)

Table 3 Ultrasound and computed tomography findings prior to diagnosis with abdominal tuberculosis n (%)

Ultrasound findings (n = 42)
Mention of TB as differential	3 (7.1)
Normal	16 (38.1)
Ascites	16 (38.1)
Intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy	6 (14.3)
Bowel thickening	7 (16.7)
Abdominal collection	1 (2.4)
2 ultrasound findings1	4 (9.5)
CT findings (n = 46)
Mention of TB as differential	22 (47.8)
Normal	3 (6.5)
Ascites	20 (43.5)
Intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy	25 (54.3)
Bowel thickening	27 (58.7)
Peritoneal thickening	9 (19.6)
1 CT finding2	17 (37.0)
2 CT findings	15 (32.6)
3 or more CT findings	11 (23.9)

¹Four cases of intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy and bowel thickening;

²Three had only ascites, 7 only intra-abdominal lymphadenopathy, 6 only bowel thickening, 1 only peritoneal thickening. TB: Tuberculosis; CT: Computed tomography.

Table 4 Endoscopic findings prior to diagnosis with abdominal tuberculosis n (%)

Upper GI endoscopy findings (n = 18)
Normal	10 (55.5)
Oesophageal ulcers	3 (16.7)
Gastritis	1 (5.6)
Gastric ulcer	1 (5.6)
Duodenitis	3 (16.7)
Duodenal scalloping	1 (5.6)
2 endoscopic findings1	1 (5.6)
Lower GI endoscopy findings (n = 21)
Normal	4 (19.0)
Colonic inflammation	11 (52.4)
Ileocolonic ulcers	5 (23.8)
Ileocolonic nodularity	1 (4.8)
Colonic stricture	2 (9.5)
Colonic polyps	2 (9.5)
2 endoscopic findings2	4 (19.0)

¹Oesophageal ulcer and gastritis;

²Tow had colonic inflammation and ulcers, 2 had colonic inflammation and an inflammatory colonic stricture. GI: Gastrointestinal.

Table 5 Breakdown of histology and microbiology according to route of specimen acquisition

	n	Cytology/histology sent	Cytology/histology suggestive of tuberculosis	Microbiology sent	Culture + ve
Paracentesis	20	20 (100%)	7/9 (77.8%) had lymphocytic effusion1	19 (95%)	11/19 (57.9%)
Endoscopy	32	28 (87.5%)	14/28 (50%)	10 (31.3%)	3/10 (30%)
Surgery	16	15 (93.8%)	14/15 (93.3%)	13 (81.3%)	9/13 (69.2%)

¹For ascitic fluid which was culture positive a lymphocyte count was not provided.