Addressing the Challenges of Imaging in Tuberculosis: Need of the Hour

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a raging public health concern in endemic nations across the world, including India. According to the World Health Organization TB report 2023, in the year 2022, TB was second only to coronavirus disease 2019 as cause of mortality related to infection from a single agent.[1] While lung is the initial site of involvement by the Mycobacterium bacillus, and pulmonary TB (PTB) is the most frequent form; subsequent hematogenous dissemination leading to extrapulmonary site infection is also common with diverse manifestations.. Extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) spares almost no organ, and the sites of involvement are both intrathoracic and extrathoracic. Lymph nodes are the most common affected site not only in the thorax, but also in the neck and abdomen. Though lung is the entry point of the organism into the body, at the time of clinical manifestation of EPTB involvement, PTB manifestation is often rather infrequently seen.