What type of study is this?

This is a Cross-Sectional Study study.

October 10, 2025Open Access

Clinical Assessment of Unenhanced Chest CT as a Diagnostic Modality for Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Key Points

Unenhanced chest CT shows high sensitivity (86.7%) for diagnosing smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis, aiding accurate detection.
For patients with +2 acid-fast bacilli smears, chest CT achieves a specificity of 81.3% and sensitivity of 47.4%, indicating a balanced diagnostic approach.
Diagnostic accuracy of chest CT varied by smear grade, highlighting the importance of tailored imaging strategies for pulmonary tuberculosis.
Significant correlation exists between key CT features and microbiological confirmation of pulmonary tuberculosis, supporting CT's diagnostic utility.

Abstract

Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) remains a major global health concern that requires early and accurate diagnosis. Standard methods, such as sputum smear microscopy and culture, are often slow and may miss smear-negative cases. Chest computed tomography (CT) can reveal radiologic features of active disease that are not detected by traditional tests. Objectives: The present study evaluated the diagnostic performance of unenhanced chest CT in identifying active PTB and its agreement with microbiological results. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study at Bu-Ali-Sina Hospital, Zahedan, Iran, between March 2014 and November 2020. A total of 130 patients with suspected active PTB were enrolled. The CT findings were compared with culture and Bacillus Koch polymerase chain reaction (BK-PCR) results. Diagnostic indices, including sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, Youden’s Index, and likelihood ratios (LRs), were calculated by acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear status. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0, with significance set at P 1). Conclusions: Unenhanced chest CT adds diagnostic value in PTB, especially in patients with inconclusive smear or culture results. Incorporating CT into diagnostic pathways may improve early detection and clinical outcomes. Further multicenter studies are needed to validate its role in routine practice.

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Cite This Study

Dahmardeh et al. (Fri,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/68e861b07ef2f04ca37e49fd https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5812/iji-165254

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