Table 2.
Clinical findings of febrile extrapulmonary tuberculosis patients referred with fever of unknown origin
| Variables | Detail | Total (n = 95) | Group of early diagnosis (n = 64) | Group of delayed diagnosis (n = 31) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Localizing signs and/or symptoms, n (%) | 59 (62.1) | 42 (65.6) | 17 (54.8) | 0.310 | |
| Hematology | Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 11.6 ± 2.1 | 11.9 ± 2.0 | 11.0 ± 2.4 | 0.050 |
| WBC (×1000/mm3) | 7.7 ± 4.4 | 7.2 ± 3.6 | 8.7 ± 5.7 | 0.110 | |
| Platelet (×1000/mm3) | 259 ± 124 | 265 ± 123 | 247 ± 126 | 0.529 | |
| Chemistry | CRP (mg/dL) | 10.2 ± 6.5 | 10.7 ± 6.9 | 9.0 ± 5.6 | 0.218 |
| Albumin (g/dL) | 3.3 ± 0.5 | 3.3 ± 0.5 | 3.3 ± 0.5 | 0.889 | |
| Alkaline phosphatase (IU/L) | 143.2 ± 148.6 | 141.8 ± 169.5 | 145.9 ± 93.8 | 0.901 | |
| Lung involvement | 47 (49.5) | 34 (53.1) | 13 (41.9) | 0.306 | |
| Typical presentation of chest X-ray | 11 (23.4) | 11 (32.3) | 0 | 0.014 | |
| Abnormal finding on CT scan | 87/88 (98.9) | 62/62 (100) | 25/26 (95.2) | ||
| Typical imaging findings of TB | 60/88 (68.2) | 49/62 (79.0) | 11/26 (42.3) | <0.001 | |
| Anatomical distributiona | |||||
| Abdominopelvic region | 34/52 (65.4) | 26/34 (76.5) | 8/18 (44.4) | ||
| Chest | 37/56 (66.1) | 32/41 (78.0) | 5/15 (33.3) | ||
| Neck | 3/5 (60.0) | 2/3 (66.7) | 1/2 (50.0) | ||
| Abnormal finding on MRI | 27/27 (100) | 19/19 (100) | 8/8 (100) | ||
| Typical imaging findings of TB | 18/27 (66.7) | 15/19 (79.0) | 3/8 (37.5) | 0.037 | |
| Anatomical distributiona | |||||
| Musculoskeletal | 12/21 (57.1) | 10/14 (71.4) | 2/7 (28.6) | ||
| Brain | 7/7 (100) | 6/6 (100) | 1/1 (100) | ||
| Abnormal finding on PET-CT | 6/6 (100) | 1/1 (100) | 5/5 (100) | ||
All values are the mean ± standard deviation or number (%), except where indicated otherwise
aThe numbers of the typical imaging findings of TB (a) among cases in each anatomical distribution (b) were presented as ‘a/b (percentage)’
Abbreviations: CRP C-reactive protein, CT computed tomography, MRI magnetic resonance imaging, PET-CT positron emission tomography-computed tomography, WBC white blood cell