[Aspects of thoracic radiography of patients with tuberculosis and HIV infection in Ivory Coast].

The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the main features of standard chest X-ray in patients with concomitant tuberculosis and HIV infection. From 21 December 1992 to 21 February 1993, we compared 45 chest X-rays of HIV+patients with pulmonary tuberculosis with those of 73 HIV negative patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Our results revealed that extrapulmonary thoracic localizations were remarkably frequent in HIV+tuberculosis patients (57.8% versus 22% in HIV-patients; P < 0.05). Extrapulmonary localizations were frequently mediastinal lymph nodes (82.7%). Parenchymal involvement was often extensive including frequent miliary images (20% versus 38.3% in HIV-patients). Thus despite the lack of CD4 counts in our study, we were able to observe that about one half the co-infected tuberculosis patients had reached the stage of AIDS as defined by the CDC in 1987. These findings are in agreement with those reported in the literature and would suggest that thoracic manifestations of tuberculosis is a good marker of the state of immunodepression.