Abdominal and Pericardial Ultrasound in Suspected Extrapulmonary Or Disseminated Tuberculosis (Original Articles) (Report‪)‬

Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) is defined as tuberculosis (TB) of organs other than the lungs and usually results from lympho-haematogenous dissemination of the organism. The term disseminated TB refers to TB that involves multiple body systems, including the lungs. Target areas are usually those with high vascularity and include the lymph nodes, meninges, spleen, kidneys, spine and growing ends of bones. Additional sites of involvement include the pleura, pericardium, peritoneum, liver, gastro-intestinal tract, genito-urinary tract and skin. (1,2) Co-infection with HIV has a significant impact on the TB pandemic. HIV-infected individuals more commonly present with EPTB, disseminated disease and smear-negative TB, and more readily suffer recurrence of TB after treatment. EPTB occurs in only 15.0% of non-HIV TB patients and in up to 70.0% of HIV-positive TB patients, with the risks of EPTB and mycobacteraemia increasing with advancing immunosuppression. (1,3,4) TB may also accelerate the progression of HIV infection to AIDS. (5)