Clinical and imaging factors that can predict contagiousness of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Background: Knowledge on predicting pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) contagiosity in the hospital admission setting is limited. The objective was to assess clinical and radiological criteria to predict PTB contagiosity.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 7 clinical, 4 chest X-ray (CXR) and 5 computed tomography (CT) signs in 299 PTB patients admitted to an urban tertiary hospital from 2008 to 2016.