Comparison the Radiologic Findings of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Among HIV-Seropositive With HIV-Seronegative Patients

Background: approximately 1.8 million of the world’s population is infected with both m.tuberculosis (tb) and hiv. hiv-seropositive patients with tb may have radiographically atypical presentations. objectives: this study aimed to determine whether there was any difference in radiological presentation of pulmonary tb between hiv-seropositive and hiv-seronegative patients. patients and methods: information on 204 patients who were admitted with a diagnosis of pul- monary tb to the infectious ward of razi hospital, ahvaz, between 2004 and 2008 was obtained from their records. they were divided into hiv-seropositive and hiv-seronegative groups. all clini- cal signs and symptoms and radiological findings were extracted from each patient file and recorded in a questionnaire. results: normal thoracic radiography, pleural effusion, milliary pattern, and hilar and mediasti- nal lymphadenopathy were more common in the hiv-seropositive group. pulmonary infiltration and cavitary lesions in chest x-ray (cxr) were more frequent in the hiv-seronegative group. the prevalence of fibrosis in hiv-seronegative patients was higher than in hiv-seropositive subjects. upper lobe pulmonary involvement in hiv-seropositive patients was less frequent than hiv-seron- egative persons due to their immunodeficiency. conclusions: radiological presentation of pulmonary tb differs between hiv-seropositive and hiv-seronegative patients due to progressive immunodeficiency from hiv infection.