Tuberculosis among children and adolescents in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Focus on extrapulmonary disease

Objective To compare the socio-demographic, clinical, and diagnostic characteristics and treatment outcomes between extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in children and adolescents in Rio de Janeiro, a high TB-burdened Brazilian city. Methods This retrospective study used data from patients with EPTB and PTB aged 0 - 18 years, notified on two national databases from 2014 to 2016. Results Among the 1008 patients, 144 (14.2%) had EPTB. Patients with EPTB showed higher odds of hospital-based diagnosis (odds ratio (OR): 6.76 [95% confidence interval (95% CI): 4.62-9.90]; p Conclusions EPTB remains a clinical diagnostic challenge that needs to be addressed to fully benefit from the higher sensitivity laboratory investigations.