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. 2023 Apr 15;14:67. doi: 10.1186/s13244-023-01395-9

Table 1.

Demographics, microbiology and radiology data of patients with presumptive mycobacterial lung diseases

Internal cohort, training (n = 660) Internal cohort, internal test (n = 120) External cohort, external test (n = 600)
TB NTM-LD Imitator p TB NTM-LD Imitator p TB NTM-LD Imitator p
(N = 220) (N = 220) (N = 220) (n = 40) (n = 40) (n = 40) (n = 200) (n = 200) (n = 200)
Age (years)* 64.3 ± 18.2 67.7 ± 12.7 66.2 ± 15.7 0.075 66.8 ± 18.7 70.1 ± 10.2 62.0 ± 16.1 0.063 55.0 ± 20.5 65.9 ± 15.4 65.8 ± 12.4  < 0.001
Male, n (%) 143 (65%) 104 (47%) 101 (46%)  < 0.001 29 (73%) 19 (48%) 16 (40%) 0.010 140 (70%) 110 (55%) 83 (42%)  < 0.001
Acid-fast smear  < 0.001  < 0.001  < 0.001
High-grade positive (3, 4) 53 (24%) 34 (16%) 0 (0%) 8 (20%) 9 (23%) 0 (0%) 73 (37%) 17 (9%) 0 (0%)
Low-grade positive (1, 2) 47 (21%) 51 (23%) 0 (0%) 9 (23%) 8 (20%) 0 (0%) 48 (24%) 34 (17%) 0 (0%)
Negative 120 (55%) 135 (61%) 220 (100%) 23 (58%) 23 (58%) 40 (100%) 79 (40%) 149 (75%) 200 (100%)
Chest X-ray pattern
Fibrocalcific change 100 (46%) 80 (36%) 68 (31%) 0.006 13 (33%) 13 (33%) 8 (20%) 0.358 71 (36%) 67 (34%) 69 (35%) 0.915
Nodule or mass* 109 (50%) 98 (45%) 58 (26%)  < 0.001 29 (73%) 16 (40%) 13 (33%) 0.001 128 (64%) 134 (67%) 92 (46%)  < 0.001
Cavitation* 42 (19%) 22 (10%) 14 (6%)  < 0.001 4 (10%) 5 (13%) 2 (5%) 0.496 65 (33%) 30 (15%) 7 (4%)  < 0.001
Consolidation 118 (54%) 75 (34%) 108 (49%)  < 0.001 22 (55%) 22 (55%) 17 (43%) 0.434 118 (59%) 61 (31%) 76 (38%)  < 0.001
Bronchiectasis* 23 (11%) 116 (53%) 67 (31%)  < 0.001 11 (28%) 21 (53%) 20 (50%) 0.046 24 (12%) 122 (61%) 57 (29%)  < 0.001
Pleural effusion 18 (8%) 3 (1%) 15 (7%) 0.004 8 (20%) 2 (5%) 1 (3%) 0.014 21 (4%) 0 (0%) 7 (1%)  < 0.001
Chest X-ray extent
Multifocala 133 (61%) 141 (64%) 106 (48%) 0.002 28 (70%) 26 (65%) 17 (43%) 0.029 134 (67%) 151 (76%) 92 (46%)  < 0.001

NTM-LD, nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease; TB, tuberculosis

aFor the evaluation of the extent of lung involvement, each lung was divided into 3 areas. The pulmonary lesions with involvement in more than one lung area were regarded as multifocal

*p < 0.05 compared among training, internal test sets of the internal cohort, and the external test set of the external cohort