Presentation of pulmonary tuberculosis.

A study was made of the presenting features of 100 consecutive Australian patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. A clinical diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis was suspected at the time of first presentation in only 52 patients and the initial provisional diagnosis was that of a non-tuberculous chest condition in a further 32 patients. In another 16 there was a delay in diagnosis because pulmonary tuberculosis was suspected only after chest X-rays were taken for screening purposes--for example, prior to elective surgery. A non-cavitating lesion in an upper lobe was the radiological appearance most often associated with failure to suspect tuberculosis at the time of presentation. The most common symptoms or change in pre-existing chest complaints were cough (55), loss of weight (52) and shortness of breath (43) followed by fever or night sweats (23) and haemoptysis (10) while 16 were asymptomatic.