The diagnosis and method investigation of active tuberculosis situation among HIV/AIDS patients

Objective To screen the active tuberculosis patients among HIV infected patients,and investigate the diagnostic methods for active tuberculosis among TB/HIV co-infected patients.Methods From August 2006 to March 2007,660 HIV/AIDS patients were enrolled.The study was conducted at 4 authorized hospitals for AIDS in Nanning and Liuzhou.Chest X-ray(CXR),acid-fast stain test of sputum smear and fast culture were applied if CD+4 T cell counts were below 350 cells/mm3 or the patients at least have one suspected symptom.Result The CD 4 T cell count in 76.1% (502/660) of the patients was less than 200 cells/mm3.TB/HIV coinfection was found in 22.9% (151/660) of the HIV patients.Among them,74.8% (113/151) of them were pulmonary TB patients.One third of them were extra-pulmonary TB patients,and 68.1% of them involved lymph node.In 264 patients with negative sputum smear test and CXR,20.1% (53/264) of them showed positive results in fast culture tests.In addition,the non-tuberculosis mycobacterium (NTM) infection accounted for 38.5% culture positive cases.Conclusions The TB/HIV coinfection rate is 22.8%.Liquid rapid culture of sputum plays an import role in diagnosing of active tuberculosis among HIV patients.There are considerable proportions of NTM or extra-pulmonary TB coinfection in HIV patients. Key words: Tuberculosis; Pulmonary; Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; DiagnosisDOI: 10.3700/cma.j.issn.1009-9158.2009.04.004