Extrapulmonary tuberculosis in admitted children at Bahawal victoria hospital Bahawalpur

Objective: the purpose of study was to know the spectrum of extrapulmonary tuberculosis and its proportion in relation with total cases of tuberculosis admitted in the pediatric unit in a high endemic area. methods and material: this study was conducted at the pediatric unit-i,bahawal victoria hospital bahawalpur. the records of children between one month to 15 years of age diagnosed as extrapulmonary tb during the years 2007-2012 were reviewed and thus included. the data (age,sex,history of contact,bcg vaccination,tuberculin test,level of diagnosis) were entered on a proforma. data were entered into spps package 13 and were presented as rates and proportions. results: there were 1099 children diagnosed as cases of tuberculosis during the period (2007-2012). 689 children (62.7%) were diagnosed as extrapulmonary tuberculosis. there were 340 (49.3%) male children. bcg scar was present in only 270 cases (39.2%). the history of contact with adult tb case was found in 243 cases (35.3%). tuberculin skin test was positive (.10mm) in 101 (14.7%) cases. the most common extra pulmonary tuberculosis seen in admitted children was tuberculous meningitis. among 689 cases of extra pulmonary tuberculosis 128 (18.58%) died while 25 (3.63%) lost during follow up. among the 128 children died 89(69.5%) were below the age of 5 years while 101 cases (78.9%) were malnourished. conclusion: the commonest form of extra pulmonary tb was found to be tuberculous meningitis in our study. extra pulmonary tb was associated with significant mortality and poor follow up. © 2015,pakistan pediatric journal. all rights reserved.