1. Cancer obscures extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) at a tertiary hospital in Northern Malawi
- Author
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Chikondi Sharon Chimbatata, Paul Uchizi Kaseka, J. S. T. Wu, Pocha Samuel Kamudumuli, Balwani Chingatichifwe Mbakaya, Frank Watson Sinyiza, Master Chisale, and Alfred Kayira
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Malawi ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,tuberculosis (TB) ,Epidemiology ,030231 tropical medicine ,Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ,medicine.disease_cause ,Cohort Studies ,Diagnosis, Differential ,Tertiary Care Centers ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Neoplasms ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,cancer ,Humans ,Tuberculosis ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Child ,Retrospective Studies ,Original Paper ,Retrospective review ,business.industry ,Incidence (epidemiology) ,Extrapulmonary tuberculosis ,Infant ,Cancer ,obscures ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) ,Infectious Diseases ,Child, Preschool ,Female ,Hiv status ,Differential diagnosis ,business ,Neck lymph nodes - Abstract
Data on the prevalence of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) patients are limited in many African countries including Malawi. We conducted a retrospective review of all histology reports for cancer suspected patients at Mzuzu Central Hospital (MZCH) between 2013 and 2018 to determine the proportion of EPTB cases among cancer suspected patients and characterised them epidemiologically. All reports with inconclusive findings were excluded. In total, 2214 reports were included in the review, 47 of which reported EPTB, representing 2.1% (95% CI 1.6−2.8). The incidence of EPTB was significantly associated with sex, age and HIV status. Men were more than twice (OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.2–3.9) as likely to have EPTB as women while those with HIV were more than six times (OR 6.4; 95% CI 1.7–24.8) as likely to have EPTB compared to those who were HIV-negative. EPTB demonstrated an inverse relationship with age. The highest proportion of EPTB was found from neck lymph nodes (10.3% (5.4–17.2)). A reasonable number of EPTB cases are diagnosed late or missed in Malawi's hospitals. There is a need for concerted efforts to increase EPTB awareness and likely come up with a policy to consider EPTB as a differential diagnosis in cancer suspected patients.
- Published
- 2020
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