A simple, valid, numerical score for grading chest x-ray severity in adult smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis.

Background: The grading of radiological severity in clinical trials in tuberculosis (TB) remains unstandardised. The aim of this study was to generate and validate a numerical score for grading chest x-ray (CXR) severity and predicting response to treatment in adults with smear-positive pulmonary TB.

Methods: At a TB clinic in Papua, Indonesia, serial CXRs were performed at diagnosis, 2 and 6 months in 115 adults with smear-positive pulmonary TB.