Contribution of Computed Tomographyin The Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis at Kiffa Regional Hospital, Assaba

Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health problem worldwide, especially in developing countries. The persistence of tuberculosis is partly related to increased longevity and aging of the population and emergence of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosisstrains [1]. In resource-limited settings where sputum culture and nucleic acid amplification techniques are not routinely available, diagnosis of pulmonary TB is based on clinical signs and symptoms (fever, productive cough, purulent sputum, hemoptysis, dyspnea, weight loss, loss of appetite), microscopic examination of sputum smear, and chest X-ray [2]. An additional difficulty is that the diagnosis can be difficult when signs and symptoms are either atypical or non-specific, such as acute pneumonia, chroniccough, fever, and diarrhea. Autopsies in several countries have shown that an accurate diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis was made in only about 50% of cases [15]. In many cases, diagnosis is established too late, allowing the spread of contagion from undetected cases. In countries where both tuberculosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/