EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TUBERCULOUS CERVICAL LYMPHADENOPATHY IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF NORTHERN GUJARAT

Background – Tuberculosis is quite common in developing countries like India. Tuberculous lymphadenopathy is the most common extrapulmonary manifestation which frequently involves cervical lymph nodes. Objective – To study the epidemiology of tuberculous cervical lymphadenopathy in tertiary care hospital of northern Gujarat. Material Methods- This hospital based prospective study was conducted on 91 conrmed patients of tuberculous cervical lymphadenopathy to determine the distribution of patients on the basis of age group, sex, income group, size of lymph node on initial presentation and history of contact with conrmed cases of tuberculosis. Results – The most common age group to be affected was 15-29 years. 48 cases were females and 43 cases were males. 63 patients were from low income group and 57 patients presented with initial lymph node size of 1-2cm. 72 cases had denite history of contact with tuberculosis patients. Conclusion- In this study we found out that the tuberculous cervical lymphadenopathy was more common in young adults. Females were affected more commonly than males. Majority of the patients under study belonged to lower income group. The size of lymph node was 1-2cm in majority of patients upon presentation. History of contact with conrmed case of TB was quite common in these patients