Document Detail


Chest radiographs and their reliability in the diagnosis of tuberculosis.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  16751817     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Radiology plays an important role in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Many medical practitioners believe in and rely primarily on the chest x-ray for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. This study attempts to evaluate the reliability and validity of chest radiographs. This study was carried out in the tuberculosis clinic of BPKIHS. 75 radiographs were chosen for the study and viewed by 25 physicians of varying qualifications. Their findings were compared with the gold standard. The overall sensitivity and specificity was 78% and 51% respectively. There was poor agreement between the best physician and the best radiologist. This study has demonstrated an unsatisfactory sensitivity and specificity of chest x-rays in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. The over-diagnosis and over-treatment due to chest x-rays could lead to an unmanageable burden on the resources of a poor country like Nepal. Private practitioners should be made aware about the importance of bacteriological diagnosis of tuberculosis before initiating drug therapy.
Authors:
N Kumar; S K Bhargava; C S Agrawal; K George; P Karki; D Baral
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Validation Studies    
Journal Detail:
Title:  JNMA; journal of the Nepal Medical Association     Volume:  44     ISSN:  0028-2715     ISO Abbreviation:  JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc     Publication Date:    2005 Oct-Dec
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2006-06-05     Completed Date:  2008-05-20     Revised Date:  2009-11-11    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0045233     Medline TA:  JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc     Country:  Nepal    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  138-42     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal. kumarnarain@yahoo.com
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Mycobacterium tuberculosis / isolation & purification*
Observer Variation
Physicians
Radiography, Thoracic / standards*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Sputum / microbiology
Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / diagnosis*,  radiography*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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