Clinical and epidemiological features of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in a high incidence region.

OBJECTIVE To describe the clinical features of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EXPTB) and to evaluate epidemiological data to search for potential explanations for its high frequency in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico. MATERIALS AND METHODS Clinical records of all patients with tuberculosis seen in Aguascalientes in 2008 were reviewed, and official databases were analyzed. RESULTS EXPTB comprised 60.5% of the 86 cases evaluated, being lymph nodes the main site affected. Patients with EXPTB were younger and more obese than subjects with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). One third of cases in either group had diabetes, a frequency much higher than expected. Epidemiological analysis showed that PTB incidence, but not EXPTB incidence, decreases as geographical altitude increases, and had a descendent trend from 1997 to 2011. CONCLUSIONS The lower frequency of PTB (due to its inverse relationship with altitude and its descendent trend in last years) might explain the high frequency of EXPTB. Obesity appeared to protect against developing pulmonary involvement, and diabetes was more frequent than expected among PTB and EXPTB cases.