Chest X-Ray Features of Drug Resistance Tuberculosis in Pediatric Population; A Prospective Study in High-Endemic Area.

Objective: To identify chest X-ray (CXR) characteristic of Pediatric pulmonary drug-resistant tuberculosis (DRTB) in comparison to drug sensitive tuberculosis (DSTB) for early identification and treatment of DRTB.

Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study in which CXR patterns of DS and DR patients aged 1 month to 18 years were categorized into different variants including pleural effusion, cavity lesion, hilar or mediastinal lymph node (LN), consolidation, pneumothorax, pericardial effusion, miliary TB, nodular shadow, and collapse. The consensus between the pulmonary physician and radiologist was measured using weighted kappa test. Adjusted logistic regression analysis was used to identify DRTB suggestive CXR pattern.

Results: From June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023, 237 pulmonary TB subjects were recruited. Out of 175 DSTB subjects, 47 were below the age of 12 and 128 were above the age of 12. 62 were microbiologically confirmed DRTB where 12 were below the age of 12 and 50 were above the age of 12. Cavitary TB lesions (p = 0.001) and Consolidation (p = 0.003) were found significant in DR patients. Adjusting for age, gender, socioeconomic status DRTB was associated with cavity lesion (OR = 2.62; 95% CI = 1.39-4.93; p = 0.001) and consolidation (OR = 2.29; 95% CI = 1.27-4.14; p = 0.003).

Conclusion: We conclude that presence of cavitary lesion or consolidation in "presumptive" or "probable" DRTB patients should alert pediatricians. Our findings suggest that these DR suggestive CXR pattern can guide for early start of therapy while awaiting microbiological report.