DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2020.v08i09.029

Pages: 2127-2131

Objective: The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) among dialysis population is much higher than general population. Immunosuppression induced by end-stage renal disease (ESRD) modified the clinical presentation of TB, resulting in atypical signs and symptoms, and a more frequent extrapulmonary presentation. This study was undertaken to determine the pattern of presentation and incidence of TB in ESRD patients. Methods: This was a prospective observational study done using 200 ESRD patients who are on chronic maintenance hemodialysis (HD) at Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, BG nagara, India. TB was diagnosed using clinical, radiological, biochemical, microbiological, and histological findings. Results: The incidence of TB was found to be 12%. It was found to be commoner in females, commonest in the age group 40–34 years. Pleural effusion was the commonest type of TB found (50%). The incidence of extrapulmonary TB was 87.5%. There was a high incidence of TB during the early years of initiation of HD. Patients with TB had a statistically significant low BMI compared to non-TB patients (18.42 kg/m2 Vs. 22.63 kg/m2. P<0.001). TB had a significant impact on mortality among HD patients. Conclusion: Patients with ESRD, on chronic maintenance HD are at increased risk for pulmonary and extra pulmonary tuberculosis and should be diagnosed with high index of suspicion. The TB infected patients generally presented worse mortality rates than the non-TB infected patients.