Objective To evaluate the cl inical outcomes of primary anterior focus debridement, bone autograft, and internal fixation via transperitoneal approach in treating tuberculosis of the lumbosacral junction. Methods From February 2002 to April 2007, 16 patients with tuberculosis of the lumbosacral junction underwent anterior radical debridement, autologous il iac bone graft (two pieces of il iac bone, 5 cm × 3 cm in size), and internal fixation via transperitoneal approach, including 4 males and 12 females aged 27-63 years old (average 38 years old). The course of the disease ranged from 6 to 18 months (average 10 months). All patients experienced various degrees of pain in the lumbosacral area and toxic symptoms of thetuberculosis. Nine cases were compl icated with radicular pain in the lower extremities, and 3 cases had saddle area anaesthesia. Two cases were initially diagnosed as lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion and treated accordingly. The segments involved by the tuberculosis were L5-S1 level in all cases. The average erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was 61 mm/hour. Imaging examination confirmed the diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis. All cases received four antitubercular drugs and nutrition support for nerve before operation. Operation was performed when hepatorenal function was normal, and the toxic symptom of the tuberculosis was under control or ESR was decreased. Results Operation was performed safely in all cases without injuries of abdominal viscera, major blood vessel, cauda equina nerve and ureter. All wounds healed by first intention. No recurrence of tuberculosis and formation of sinuses occurred. All cases were followed up for 12-37 months (average 21 months). No such compl ications as tuberculous peritonitis and intestinal obstruction occurred. No postoperative erectile dysfunction and retrograde ejaculation occurred in the 4 male patients. ESR was recovered to normal 3-6 months after operation, and regular X-ray and CT exams showed no displacement of grafted bone. All patients achieved bony fusion 12 months after operation without the occurrence breakage and loosening of titanium plate and screw. The radical pain in the lower extremities and the saddlearea anaesthesia disappeared. Four patients had pain in the il iac donor site, 2 patients had mild pain in the lumbosacral area, and the pain was el iminated after symptomatic treatment. The therapeutic effect was graded as excellent in 14 cases and good in 2 cases according to the therapeutic effect evaluation criteria of Chen and co-workers. Conclusion The surgical treatment of tuberculosis of the lumbosacral junction with primary anterior focus debridement, bone autograft, and internal fixation via transperitoneal approach can achieve satisfying bony fusion and reconstruct spinal stabil ity.
To evaluate the appl ication value of internal fixation of spinal column by posterior approach and extraperitioneal bilateral focal debridement for the treatment of tuberculosis of lumbosacral vertebral body. Methods From March 2000 to February 2005, 16 cases of spinal tuberculosis in L3-S1 were treated with internal fixation of spinal column by posterior approach and extraperitioneal bilateral focal debridement. Sixteen cases included 11 males and 5 females, and the age was 21-56 years. The locations of spinal tuberculosis were L3 in 4 cases, L4 in 6, L5 in 4, and S1 in 2. The course of disease averaged 13 monthes (range 6 monthes to 6 years). The ESR of all cases was greater than 20 mm/h (average40 mm/h); WBC was normal in 14 cases, and a l ittle high in 2 cases. The X-ray picture showed narrow intervertebral space in 5 cases, compressed body of vertebra in 7 cases, and destroyed 2 consecutive vertebra and its sclerotin was condupl icate in 1 case. All cases were abscess in major psoas muscle. The CT showed destruction of bone, abscess-formation and dead bone in body of vertebra of 16 cases. The abscess were found in vertebral canal in 5 cases and dura mater of spinal cord and spinal nerve root crushed in 2 cases. The MRI showed destruction of bone, abscess-formation and hibateral abscess in major psoas muscle in 11 cases. The abscess were found in vertebral canal and dura mater of spinal cord and spinal nerve root crushed in 6 cases. The therapy of pasid was treated after operation in all the cases. Results Incision healed by first intention in 16 cases; and disruption of wound occurred and heal ing was achieved after symptomatic treatment in 1 case. Sixteen cases were followed up 2-5 years (29 months on average). Among all the cases, anaesthesia in double thigh was found in 3 cases, adynamia of dorsiflexion in foot in 1 case, gatism in 1 case; after 2 weeks the symptoms were vanished. Indirect hernia of fold inguen were found in 1 case after 2 years, and the patient refused operation for age and was no longer followed up. Fuzzy, exsic and acerb in eyes were foundin 6 cases, hearing disturbance were found in 2 cases, and symptoms were vanished after medication adjustment. Low-grade fever and lumbar myalgia were found in 1 case and cured after staying in bed and medication adjustment. All ESR were normal, synostosis of lumbosacral vertebral body was found in 13 cases, kyphosis in 1 case. Conclusion Internal fixation of spinal column by posterior approach and extraperitioneal bilateral focal debridement is safe and available way for the treatment of tuberculosis of lumbosacral vertebral body, it can save the times of operation, shorten period and enhance effect of treatment.
ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical features and prognosis of patients with choroidal tuberculoma. MethodsA retrospective and observational study. From 2011 to 2022, 15 patients (16 eyes) with choroidal tuberculoma diagnosed and treated in Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University were included. The patients underwent examinations including best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fundus color photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescein fundus angiography (FFA), and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA). Chest CT examination, purified protein derivative test and interferon-γ release test were also performed. BCVA was performed using the Snellen visual acuity chart, which was converted to Logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) visual acuity when recorded. All the patients received antitubercular therapy and the duration was 12-15 months. Thirteen patients were combined with oral corticosteroids. The average follow-up time was 36 months. Rank sum test was used to compare logMAR BCVA before and after treatment. ResultsAmong the 15 patients, 5 were male and 10 were female; 1 case was bilateral involvement; 7 patients had a strong positive tuberculin skin test; 8 patients had a positive interferon-γ release assay. Six patients had pulmonary tuberculosis. One patient had peritoneal tuberculosis. Lesions were located in the posterior pole in 12 eyes, 1 eye with papillary tuberculoma. Peripheral lesions were found in 4 eyes. There were 9 eyes each with anterior segment inflammation or vitreous inflammation; 7 eyes were with exudative retinal detachment. OCT examination revealed a hyporeflective thickening of the choroidal stroma, the corresponding elevation of the retina, and often accompanied by subretinal fluid. FFA revealed hyperfluorescence of the mass and fluorescence accumulation with subretinal fluid at the late stage. ICGA revealed hypofuorescence of the lesion. The lesions subsided after treatment, and there was no recurrence during follow-up period. Cataract surgery was performed in 4 eyes due to complicated cataract. One eye undergone vitrectomy due to secondary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy was performed in 1 eye due to secondary choroidal neovascularization. Ocular wall perforation occurred in 1 eye, and the condition was stable after treatment. Before treatment, the average logMAR BCVA was 1.02±0.57, which improved to 0.31±0.35 after treatment. The difference between the mean logMAR BCVA before and after treatment was statistically significant (P＜0.05). ConclusionsCombination of medical history, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, and imaging can assist in the diagnosis of choroidal tuberculoma. The main manifestations are subretinal yellowish-white lesions in posterior pole. Standardized anti-tuberculosis therapy can effectively improve the prognosis of vision.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of health economics of census versus high-risk population screening for tuberculosis in Mianyan city, in order to provide references for the selection of suitable tuberculosis screening method in western region of China. MethodsWe included active tuberculosis patients by residents health screening of 21 villages and towns in Mianyan city from June 2013 to March 2013. Relevant data was analyzed by referencing the National Assessment of Tuberculosis Control Program in 2001-2010. Results184047 residents were screened by tuberculosis census and 128 active tuberculosis patients were diagnosed while 61045 residents were screened by high-risk population screening and 76 active tuberculosis patients were diagnosed. The cost-utility ratio and benefit-cost ratio of tuberculosis census were 6174.17 and 3.84, respectively. The cost-utility ratio and benefit-cost ratio of high risk population screening were 3106.16 and 7.62, respectively. ConclusionHigh-risk population screening has higher cost-utility ratio and benefit-cost ratio than tuberculosis census with higher missed diagnosis. Benefits and harms of tuberculosis detection rate and cost should be fully balanced before tuberculosis screening method were chosen in western underdeveloped region of China.
ObjectiveTo investigate the diagnostic value of internal medicine thoracoscope combined with pleural GeneXpert MTB/RIF for tuberculous pleurisy.MethodsEighty patients with tuberculous pleurisy admitted to hospital with pleural effusion were treated as tuberculous pleurisy group, and 20 patients with clinical diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion were used as control group. After admission to the hospital, the pre-operative examination of internal medicine thoracoscope were analyzed. All patients were extracted pleural effusion with thoracic puncture in order to send pleural tuberculosis smear and culture. Patients who had no contraindications were arranged internal medicine thoracoscope to get pleural effusion which will be sent to GeneXpert MTB/RIF and pathological tissue biopsy.ResultsIn the tuberculous pleurisy group, nine patients were positive in pleural tuberculous smear, and the positive rate was 11.3%; 4 patients were positive in pleural tuberculous culture, and the positive rate was 5.0%; 75 patients were diagnosed with pathological biopsy, and the positive rate was 93.8%; 69 patients were positive with pleural GeneXpert MTB/RIF, and the positive rate was 86.3%. The positive rate of internal medicine thoracoscopic pleural biopsy combined with pleural GeneXpert MTB/RIF could reached 96.3%. The pleural GeneXpert MTB/RIF lifampin resistance gene was positive in 5 patients, 4 of them were positive for tuberculosis culture, and the drug sensitivity results showed rifampicin resistance. In the control group, patients had negative result in pleural effusion tuberculosis smear, tuberculosis culture and the pleural GeneXpert MTB/RIF.ConclusionsThe diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy by the combination of internal medicine thoracoscope and pleural GeneXpert MTB/RIF has high specificity and sensitivity. The diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy by the combination of internal medicine thoracoscope and pleural GeneXpert MTB/RIF has high specificity and sensitivity, which has the value of rapid and accurate diagnosis and early guidance of anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy based on the early judgment of whether rifampin resistance exists.
Objective To explore the application of peer education in TB prevention at middle schools in Kai County of Chongqing and compare it with traditional education, and to provide theory support for further policy making. Methods Four complete middle schools were randomly selected as the control group, the peer education group, the traditional education group and the combined group of peer education and traditional education, respectively. Effect evaluation was performed one month later (instant evaluation) and six months later (long-term evaluation), respectively, after the intervention period. Results The instant and long-term evaluation showed that the knowledge, attitude and practice scores of the three intervention groups were higher than the scores before intervention or those of the control group (Plt;0.01). Besides, the behavior score of the peer education group had no significant difference between instant and longterm evaluation. All scores in the instant evaluation were higher than those of long-term evaluation both in the peer education group and the traditional education group (Plt;0.01). For the knowledge, attitude and practice scores, there was no significant difference between instant and long-term evaluation in the combined group of peer education and traditional education. Conclusion Compared with the peer education group and the traditional education group, the combined group achieves an enduring effect. There is obvious instant effect in the traditional education group, and peer education has a long-term influence on students’ behavior.
Objective To observe the multimodal imaging characteristics of the eyes in patients with presumed tuberculous retinal vasculitis. Methods A retrospective case series study. A total of 15 patients (22 eyes) diagnosed with presumed tuberculous retinal vasculitis and receiving anti-tuberculosis treatment (ATT) effectively in Department of Ophthalmology, Subei People's Hospital Affiliated to Yangzhou University from January 2018 to April 2021 were included. Among them, there were 5 males and 10 females. Seven had bilateral involvement and 8 had unilateral involvement. The age was 49.3±11.1 years old. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fundus colour photography, wide-angle fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA), and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were performed in all patients. Indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) was performed in 7 eyes. The BCVA examination was performed with the international standard visual acuity chart, which was converted into the logarithm of minimal angel resolution vision (logMAR). Systemic tuberculosis-related examinations included chest CT, serum T-spot, purified protein derivative and other tuberculosis-related tests. All patients were treated with systemic anti-tuberculosis therapy. The follow-up time was ＞12 months. The multimodal imaging characteristics for affected eyes. Nonparametric test was used to compare BCVA before and after treatment. ResultsThe retinal vessels of all the affected eyes were tortuously dilated, including 3 eyes with vascular white scabbard, 5 eyes with scattered bleeding point at the retina inculding 3 eyes walking along the vessels. The lesions were mainly distributed in the middle and periphery of the retina, and some of them involved the posterior pole; 12 eyes (54.5%, 12/22) with simple retinal vasculitis and 10 eyes (45.5%, 10/22) with retinal vasculitis complicated with choroiditis. Tuberculous retinal vasculitis showed different degrees of retinal vascular leakage on FFA, mainly retinal vein and capillary leakage, not involving arteries; 16 eyes (72.7%, 16/22) of retinal vasculitis showed peripheral occlusive retinal vasculitis and 4 eyes (18.2%, 4/22) were associated with retinal neovascularization. In 10 eyes with choroiditis, there were multiple focal choroiditis lesions of different sizes under the retina. Of the 7 eyes examined by ICGA, the choroidal inflammatory lesions showed hypofluorescent dark dots (HDD) in 5 eyes (71.4%,5/7), showing HDDs of different sizes, most of which were distributed in the posterior pole and middle periphery. In 10 eyes with retinal vasculitis complicated with choroiditis after ATT, the accumulation of hyper-reflective substances above and below the retinal pigment epithelium layer of the retina was gradually absorbed, but not completely disappeared, and most of the disorders of retinal structure could not be recovered. The average logMAR visual acuity was 0.61±0.57 before treatment and 0.36±0.55 after treatment. The BCVA after treatment was significantly higher than that before treatment (Z=－3.102, P＜0.01). ConclusionsPeripheral occlusive retinal vasculitis is the most common manifestation of tuberculous retinal vasculitis in FFA, which may be accompanied by focal choroidal inflammatory lesions. Wide-angle FFA and ICGA are more important in the diagnosis of tuberculous retinal vasculitis. OCT can be used for monitoring the changes of inflammation.
Objective To observe the clinical features and treatment outcomes of presumed tubercular retinal vasculitis. Methods This is a retrospective non-comparative interventional clinical research. A total of nine patients (11 eyes) with major presentation of retinal vasculitis were included in this study. Patients first consulted the eye clinic and were diagnosed presumed tubercular retinal vasculitis. The patients, seven males and two females, aged from 19 to 66 years, with an average of 43.89 years. The time interval from symptoms to diagnosis ranged from two weeks to six months with an average of 76.27 days. Visual acuity, slit lamp ophthalmoscopy, fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA), optical coherence tomography (OCT), hematological and tuberculosis related investigations were examined and analyzed. All patients had standard anti-tuberculosis treatment. Treatment outcomes were followed for six to 37 months with an average of 14.11 months. Results Baseline visual acuity ranged from hand movement to 0.8 with an average of 0.28. Among 11 eyes, six presented mild to moderate vitritis, five presented as retinal vein occlusion with no obvious vitirits. Fundus examination showed six cases with retinal hemorrhage, four cases with macular edema, two with macular epiretinal membrane, and two with vitreous hemorrhage. FFA revealed 11 cases with leakage of vessels, 11 with nonperfusion area, four with macular edema, three with retinal neovascularization, and two with choroidal lesions. OCT of nine eyes suggested six eyes with retinal edema, three with macular edema, three with macular epiretinal membrane. TST of seven patients were all b positive. T-SPOT.TB of four patients were all positive. Three of eight patients who had chest X-ray or chest CT were suggested tuberculosis infection. Four to six weeks after the start of anti-tuberculosis treatment, vitritis, exudates, retinal and macular edema subsided. During follow up, inflammation was stable with no recurrence observed. The visual acuity of last follow-up ranged from 0.15 to 0.8 with an average of 0.51. Conclusions The main presentations of presumed tubercular retinal vasculitis are vitritis, retinal vein occlusion, and retinal hemorrhage. Standard anti-tuberculosis treatment can improve inflammation and retinal hemorrhage.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the status of 3 types of delay (patient delay, diagnostic delay and treatment delay) among tuberculosis (TB) patients in China, to determine their associations with economic factors, and to provide guidance for policies regarding TB control. MethodsThe CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Web of Science databases were searched from January 1st, 2001, to December 31st, 2021, for cross-sectional studies related to the 3 types of delay among TB patients in China. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using R 4.1.3 software. ResultsA total of 22 cross-sectional studies involving 9 498 patients were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the pooled rates of patient delay, diagnostic delay and treatment delay were 41% (95% CI 34% to 48%), 36% (95% CI 28% to 45%) and 18% (95% CI 10% to 32%), respectively. Family economic status was significantly associated with patient delay (OR=1.32, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.64, P=0.01), diagnostic delay (OR=1.55, 95% CI 1.21 to 1.97, P<0.01) and treatment delay (OR=1.60, 95% CI 0.98 to 2.60, P=0.05). Conclusion The rates of the 3 types of delay in Chinese TB patients are high, and all 3 types of delay are significantly associated with poor family economic status among the patients. Measures should be taken to reduce the incidence of the various types of delays due to the financial burden that is imposed on TB patients.
Objective To investigate the value of multislice spiral CT （MSCT） findings in the diagnosis of hepatic tuberculosis. Methods MSCT imaging data, including both plain and contrast-enhanced CT scan, of 14 patients with hepatic tuberculosis confirmed by surgery (5 patients), aspiration biopsy (4 patients), or clinic follow-up (5 patients) were collected for the study. MSCT findings were analyzed with correlation of pathological changes. Results Hepatic tuberculosis was classified into 2 types. ①The parenchymal type (12 patients), which was further divided into 4 subtypes: Miliary subtype (2 patients) showed multiple tiny hypodense dots with faint border and had no enhancement; Nodular subtype (5 patients) showed blurring border on plain CT scan, 2 patients had no enhancement, 2 had peripheral rim-like enhancement, and peripheral rim enhancement mixed with no enhancement in 1 patient; Abscess subtype (4 patients) showed central hypodense area with peripheral zone-like enhancement in 2 patients, or patchy like slight enhancement in 2 patients; Fabric and calcific subtype (1 patient) depicted enplaque calcification. ②The serohepatic type (2 patients) showed thickened hepatic capsule, sub-capsule nodules with slight enhancement, and local subcapsular fluid collection. Other signs included hepatomegaly, tuberculous lymphadenopathy, splenic tuberculosis, and tuberculosis of pancreas, adrenal glands, intestine and thorax. Conclusion MSCT plays an important role in diagnosis of hepatic tuberculosis, by reflecting underlying pathological changes.