Table 5.
Results of investigations in patients with tuberculosis (TB) and either high (≥50 mg/L) or low (<50 mg/L) serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration.
| Investigations for TB | All Patients (n=81) |
CRP ≥50 mg/L (n=45) |
CRP <50 mg/L (n=36) |
P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microbiological tests | ||||
| Sputum smear positive | 23 (28.4) | 17 (37.8) | 6 (16.7) | 0.036 |
| Xpert sputum positive (2 samples) |
56 (69.1) | 39 (86.7) | 17 (47.2) | <0.001 |
| Xpert sputum positive (1 sample) |
47 (58.0) | 34 (75.6) | 13 (36.1) | <0.001 |
| Determine TB-LAM positive |
24 (29.6) | 22 (48.9) | 2 (5.6) | <0.001 |
| Urine Xpert positive | 15 (18.5) | 12 (26.7) | 3 (8.3) | 0.045 |
| Time to culture positivity median IQR (days) |
16 (11-21) | 14 (10-19) | 17 (14-21.5) | 0.026 |
| Radiological features | ||||
| Any radiological abnormality |
59 (75.6) | 34 (79.1) | 25 (71.4) | 0.43 |
| Central abnormality | 21 (26.9) | 15 (34.9) | 6 (17.1) | 0.079 |
| Pleural abnormality | 16 (20.5) | 12 (27.9) | 4 (11.4) | 0.094 |
| Volume loss | 11 (14.1) | 8 (18.6) | 3 (8.6) | 0.32 |
| Cavitation | 2 (2.6) | 2 (4.7) | 0 | 0.50 |
| Parenchymal abnormality (any zones) |
55 (67.9) | 31 (68.9) | 24 (66.7) | 0.83 |
| Parenchymal abnormality (median number of zones) |
2 (0-4) | 2 (0-4) | 2 (0-4) | 0.96 |