Tayfun Çalışkan

High resolution computed tomography findings in smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis patients according to their culture status.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to assess the clinical features and high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings in smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and to evaluate the correlation between these parameters and the culture results. METHODS We retrospectively studied 78 active smear-negative PTB patients. They were divided into two groups according to their culture results. The HRCT findings and clinical features at the beginning of the antituberculosis treatment were reviewed. RESULTS The mean age was 22.48±3.18 years. Micronodules (87%), large nodules (63%) and centrilobular nodules (62%) were the most common HRCT findings. HRCT findings were observed in the right upper (72%), left upper (56%), right lower (32%), and left lower lobes (29%). Cough (37%) and chest pain (32%) were the most frequent symptoms at presentation. CONCLUSIONS There were no significant differences in the HRCT findings and clinical features between the two groups. Thus, in cases of smear-negative and culture-negative PTB, the patient with compatible clinical and radiological features should be considered for tuberculosis treatment.

The tuberculosis case fatality rate and the treatment results of the young adult male patients of the last 9 years (2002-2010)

Tuberculosis (TB) remains as the second leading infectious disease causing death following human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide (1). In 2010, 8.8 million (range, 8.5-9.2 million) new TB cases have been defined. According to the 2011 Global Tuberculosis Control Report of the World Health Organization (WHO), the incidence and prevalence of TB were 128/100,000 and 178/100,000, respectively, and the mortality associated with TB was 20/100,000 worldwide (1). In 2010, TB-related death was determined in 1.1 million (range, 0.9-1.2 million) HIV-negative patients and in 0.35 million (range, 0.32-0.39 million) HIV-positive patients worldwide (1). The incidence of TB has been decreasing since 2002 and the number of definite TB cases has been decreasing since 2006. Within the frame of global TB control strategy of WHO, namely “The Stop TB Strategy”, one of the aims is to reduce the prevalence and mortality rates of TB in 1990 by 50% until 2015 (2). This goal was achieved in America and was nearly achieved in the Western Pacific Region.

Smoking-related Interstitial Lung Diseases

ÖZET Halen dünyada bir milyardan fazla sigara içen insan bulunmaktadır. Türkiye’de sigara içme oranı 2009 yılı Dünya Sağlık Örgütü verilerine göre yetişkinlerde (>15 yaş) %31, 25-44 yaş grubundaysa %40’tır. Sigara en sık rastlanılan sekiz ölüm nedeni arasında altıncı sırada yer almaktadır. Sigara kullananların yarısı, sigaraya bağlı hastalıklar nedeniyle ölmektedir. Sigara nedeniyle ortaya çıkan hastalıklar arasında en sık görülenler akciğer kanseri ve kronik obstrüktif akciğer hastalığıdır. İntertisyel akciğer hastalıkları, bilinen ve bilinmeyen birçok etkenin akciğer parankiminde benzer patolojik değişikliklere yol açtığı, birbirine benzer klinik, radyolojik ve fizyolojik bulgular veren bir hastalık grubudur. Sigara kullanımı ile ilişkili intertisyel akciğer hastalıkları idiyopatik pulmoner fibrozis, respiratuar bronşiyolitis, deskuamatif interstisyel pnömoni ve pulmoner Langerhans hücreli histiyositozistir. Bu hastalıklar, sigaranın neden olduğu diğer hastalıklardan daha az görülmekle birlikte, sigara kullanımının sonlandırılmasıyla büyük kısmında klinik iyileşme görülmesi nedeniyle önemlidir.