Diagnostic value of FASH ultrasound and chest X-ray in HIV-co-infected patients with abdominal tuberculosis

In human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infected tuberculosis (TB) patients with negative acid-fast bacilli smears, chest radiography (CXR) is usually the first imaging step in the diagnostic work-up. Ultrasound, also in the form of focused assessment with sonography for TB-HIV (FASH), is an additional imaging modality used to diagnose extra-pulmonary TB (EPTB). Findings from 82 patients with abdominal TB diagnosed by ultrasound were analysed and compared with CXR results. Enlarged abdominal lymph nodes were seen in 75.6% of the patients, spleen abscesses in 41.2% and liver lesions in 30.6%. CXR showed a miliary pattern in 21.9% of the patients; 26.8% of the CXR had no radiological changes suggestive of pulmonary TB. This patient group would benefit from ultrasound in diagnostic algorithms for HIV-associated EPTB.