Urinary tuberculosis: a cohort of 79 adult cases

Hematological Parameters as Potential Markers for Distinguishing Pulmonary Tuberculosis from Genitourinary Tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) infection is an important public health concern in Taiwan. In addition to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), MTBC can also cause genitourinary tuberculosis (GUTB). This study aimed to examine the role of laboratory data and the values that can be calculated from them for the early detection of GUTB. Patients admitted from 2011 to 2020 were retrospectively recruited to analyze their associated clinical data. Statistical significance was analyzed using the chi-square test and univariate analysis for different variables. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the performances of the examined laboratory data and their calculated items, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), neutrophil-to-monocyte-plus-lymphocyte ratio (NMLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), in diagnosing PTB or GUTB. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. The ROC curve showed that the discriminative power of the neutrophil count, NLR, and MLR was within the acceptable level between patients with both PTB and GUTB and those with GUTB alone (area under the curve [AUC] values = 0.738, 0.779, and 0.725; p = 0.024, 0.008, and 0.033, respectively). The discriminative power of monocytes and the MLR was within the acceptable level (AUC = 0.782 and 0.778; p = 0.008 and 0.010, respectively). Meanwhile, the neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, NLR, NMLR, and PLR had good discriminative power (AUC = 0.916, 0.896, 0.898, 0.920, and 0.800; p < 0.001, <0.001, <0.001, <0.001, and 0.005, respectively) between patients with GUTB and those with PTB alone. In conclusion, the neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, NLR, NMLR, and PLR can be used as potential markers for distinguishing PTB from GUTB.

Tuberculosis Epididymo-Orchitis Mimicking Malignancy Resulting from Intravesical Bacillus Calmette–Guérin Immunotherapy for Bladder Cancer: A Case Report of a Rare Complication

Tuberculous epididymo-orchitis is a rare complication of intravesical bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy for bladder cancer. We report a patient with bladder cancer and a history of intravesical BCG immunotherapy who presented with right scrotal pain for 1 week. A heterogeneous, hypoechoic, and solid mass surrounded by increased blood flow in the right testis was seen on scrotal echogram. Urine ordinary and tuberculosis culture yielded negative results. After failure of antibiotic treatment and the inability to rule out tumor, the diagnosis was confirmed by radical orchiectomy. Acid-fast staining of pus in the tumor and tumor tissue was positive, and a pus culture was positive for Mycobacteria tuberculosis complex. Right radical orchiectomy was performed, and anti-tuberculosis treatment with rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide was given. The patient is still currently under anti-tuberculosis treatment, and no significant adverse effects have been noted. BCG-related epididymo-orchitis should be suspected in patients with a history of intravesical BCG immunotherapy if the empiric antibiotic treatment typically used to treat common epididymo-orchitis fails.

Clinical characteristics and outcome of genitourinary tuberculosis in Sri Lanka: an observational study

BACKGROUND

Although genitourinary Tuberculosis (GUTB) is the second commonest source of extrapulmonary TB in most countries, the reported rate of GUTB in Sri Lanka remains low. The characteristics of GUTB in Sri Lanka have not been studied and documented so far. We aimed to study the clinical and imaging characteristics, treatment modalities and outcome of GUTB in Sri Lanka.

METHODS

Data collected from patients treated by a single urological surgeon in two institutes consecutively over a period of 21 years were analysed. All patients with a microbiological and/or histopathological diagnosis of GUTB were included. Median duration of follow-up was 24 months (range: 6-96).

RESULTS

There were 82 patients and 45 (54.9%) were men. The median age was 51 (range: 26-75) years. Most patients (39%, n = 32) had vague non-specific symptoms at presentation. Common specific symptoms at presentation were haematuria (15.8%, n = 13) and scrotal manifestations (15.8%, n = 13). Mantoux test was done in 70 patients and was > 10 mm in 62 (88.5%). Erythrocyte sedimentation rate was available in 69 patients and was > 30 mm in 54 (78.3%) patients. Chest x-ray and x-ray kidney-ureter-bladder (KUB) abnormalities were detected in 9 (11%) and 6 (7.3%) respectively. CT-urography was performed in 72 patients and abnormalities were detected in 57 (79%) patients. Forty-two patients underwent cystoscopy and 73.8% (n = 31) had abnormal findings. Microbiological diagnosis was feasible in 43 (52.4%) and rest were diagnosed histopathologically. Commonest organs involved were kidney (64.6%, n = 53), ureter (51.2%, n = 42), bladder (43.9%, n = 36) and testis/epididymis (15.8%, n = 13). One patient had TB of the prostate. All were treated primarily with anti-TB drugs however, 50 (61%) required ancillary therapeutic interventions. The majority of interventions were reconstructive surgeries (n = 20, 24.4%) followed by excisional surgeries (n = 19, 23.2%) and drainage procedures (n = 11, 13.4%). Seven patients developed serious adverse reactions to anti-TB drugs. Five patients developed a thimble bladder with disabling storage symptoms. Eight patients had deranged renal functions at diagnosis and three patients developed progressive deterioration of renal function and two patients died of end stage renal disease.

CONCLUSIONS

The combination of urine for acid-fast bacilli, Mantoux test, CT-Urography, cystoscopy and histopathology is necessary to diagnose GUTB in resource-poor settings. Most ureteric strictures, non-functioning kidneys and epididymal masses need surgical treatment. Long-term follow up is essential to detect progressive deterioration of renal function.

Surgical management of tuberculous epididymo-orchitis: a retrospective study of 81 cases with long-term follow-up

BACKGROUND

Nowadays, most studies of tuberculous epididymo-orchitis (TBEO) are case reports or small sample cohort series. Our study is aimed to present the largest series of TBEO with our management experiences and long-term follow-up outcomes.

METHODS

Patients diagnosed with TBEO after surgical procedures at Department of Urology, West China Hospital from 2008 to 2019 were included. All clinical features, auxiliary examination results, treatment and histopathological findings were extracted if available.

RESULTS

Eighty-one patients (mean age 50.77 ± 16.1 years) were included. Scrotal swelling (N = 47, 58.0%) and pain (N = 29, 35.8%) were the most common presenting complaint. Pyuria and microscopic hematuria were observed in twenty-two (27.2%) and eight patients (9.9%), respectively. Urine acid fast bacilli cultures were available in 16 patients and all were negative. The mean duration between the onset of symptoms and the definite diagnosis was 6.42 ± 7.0 months. TBEO was considered in 30 (37.0%), tumors in 28 (34.6%) and nonspecific bacterial epididymo-orchitis in 23 (28.4%) patients. All patients received triple therapy of chemotherapy-surgery-pharmacotherapy and definite diagnosis was confirmed through histopathology of surgical specimens. Fifty-five patients were followed up regularly (mean follow-up 82.35 ± 36.6 months). One patient (1.2%) died from liver cirrhosis and no recurrence was observed. Postoperative complications included erectile dysfunction in 4 patients (4.9%), premature ejaculation in 5 patients (6.2%) and sterility in 7 patients (8.6%).

CONCLUSIONS

We recommend patients with advanced TBEO to receive triple therapy of chemotherapy-surgery-pharmacotherapy. Physicians should pay more attention to patients' sexual function and fertility during follow up after treatment completed.

Current updates in diagnosis of male urogenital tuberculosis

Introduction: Urogenital tuberculosis (UGTB) is a common manifestation of extrapulmonary TB (EPTB), which affects both men and women in a ratio of 2:1. Similar to other EPTB types, diagnosis of UGTB is quite challenging owing to atypical clinical presentation and paucibacillary nature of specimens. This review is primarily focused on the current updates developed in the diagnosis of male UGTB.Area covered: Smear/culture, imaging, histopathology, and interferon-γ release assays are the main modalities employed for detecting male UGTB cases. Moreover, we described the utility of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), including loop-mediated isothermal amplification, PCR, nested-PCR, and GeneXpert (MTB/RIF) assays. The possibility of using other novel modalities, such as immuno-PCR (I-PCR), aptamer-linked immobilized sorbent assay (ALISA), and identification of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) by NAATs were also discussed.Expert opinion: The current methods used for the diagnosis of male UGTB are not adequate. Therefore, the latest molecular/immunological tools, i.e. Xpert Ultra, Truenat MTB^TM, I-PCR, ALISA, and cfDNA detection employed for the diagnosis of other EPTB forms and pulmonary TB may also be exploited for UGTB diagnosis. Reliable and timely diagnosis of male UGTB may initiate an early start of anti-tubercular therapy that would reduce infertility and other complications associated with disease.

Unusual presentations of urogenital tuberculosis

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The urogenital tuberculosis is characterized by a non-specific and highly misleading clinical symptomatology.

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The clinical polymorphism of urogenital tuberculosis leads to a delayed diagnosis and severe complications.

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The diagnosis is a mixture of clinical, biological, radiological and especially histological arguments.

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The urogenital tuberculosis can mimic a renal or a bladder cancer requiring often a useless surgical treatment.

Urogenital tuberculosis is a rare and severe disease since it causes serious consequences. Often, diagnosis may be delayed because of its multiple presentation forms and clinical features. Usually, the recognition is easy to hold, but in certain cases the presentation form can be misleading which can exclude the diagnosis.

We present two cases of unusual form of urogenital tuberculosis from which clinical features were taken for a malignant cancer at the beginning.

The first case is about a young woman with renal lesions then proceeding to radical nephrectomy. The second case is about a 48 years old patient who had a radical cystectomy to treat an urothelial carcinoma (classified as pT1G3) along with squamous metaplasia (25 %).

In both cases, the histologic investigation revealed the presence of a granulomatous reaction with giant cells and caseous necrosis which confirms the diagnosis of tuberculosis.

Through the study of these two cases and literature review, we mark the different diagnosis and treatment difficulties handling these unusual presentation forms.

Urinary tuberculosis: still a challenge

BACKGROUND

Urinary tuberculosis (TB) is a challenging disease to cope with, as there has been no noticeable difference in basic diagnostic and therapeutic options in clinical practice over time.

PURPOSE

The aim of the current review was the critical assessment and evaluation of TB, which remains a major global health problem.

METHODS

The available literature regarding TB in the PubMed database was extensively searched.

RESULTS

New interdisciplinary team approaches such as next-generation sequencing are promising for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The epidemiology of the disease is changing with globalization and increasing migration events; however, the knowledge here is limited. Despite ongoing destruction, kidney functions need to be preserved as much as possible, and relatively rapid development of minimally invasive techniques relieved the surgeons in this regard. Experience is increasing in minimally invasive techniques that provide better comfort for patients compared to extensive radical surgeries.

CONCLUSIONS

Knowing the pathogenesis of urinary TB is essential for understanding the range of clinical manifestations. The onset of the disease is usually insidious. Despite modern TB drugs, reconstructive surgery, and minimally invasive procedures, progression cannot be prevented in some patients, and patient selection is essential, but we still do not have sufficient information and objective parameters to predict progression.

An atlas overview of characteristic features of tuberculosis that may be encountered at autopsy

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Although primarily a disease of the respiratory system it may be found in any organ or tissue. Global population movements and the emergence of resistant strains are contributing to increasing numbers of cases in certain populations. Subtlety of symptoms and signs, chronicity of disease and failure to seek medical assistance may result in the diagnosis only being made at the time of autopsy. For this reason forensic pathologists need to understand the protean manifestations of the disease and the variable mechanisms by which TB may cause death. This atlas overview provides descriptions of the pathological manifestations of TB in a variety of organs with accompanying illustrations. It serves as a summary of conditions that should be checked for at autopsy in suspected or confirmed cases.

Utility of GeneXpert in the diagnosis, reliance on urine microscopy and clinical characteristics of genitourinary tuberculosis at a tertiary care hospital

Background

One-third of the world's population is infected with tuberculosis (TB) with new infection occurring every second. In humans, TB is primarily caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB). Genitourinary TB (GUTB) is still a major health problem in many developing countries including India and had been declared by the World Health Organisation as 'public health emergency' in 1993.

Materials and Methods

This is a prospective study conducted at a tertiary care hospital involving 46 patients who presented with clinical feature suggestive of GUTB - urine specimens of these 46 patients were analysed for acid-fast bacilli (AFB), AFB culture, GeneXpert, and other relevant investigations were done to reach the diagnosis. Majority of patients were female (65.25%). This is especially relevant to rural and low socioeconomic areas in developing countries where women's health is worse than men's (in terms of nutrition); women's risk of disease may be increased. Most of our patients were above 30 years of age and exhibited nonspecific symptoms such as dysuria, haematuria and frequency. All patients were put on antitubercular drugs and followed as per the guidelines.

Conclusion

The sample size in the present study is small to arrive at a brisk inference, but it may safely be postulated that yield of detection for GeneXpert may be improved using multiple sampling, especially the early morning ones. It is also pertinent to mention here that GeneXpert may not be able to pick up mutant genomes.

Medical treatment for urogenital tuberculosis (UGTB)

Urogenital tuberculosis (UGTB) should in general be treated as pulmonary TB with a four-drug regimen of Isoniazid, Rifampicin, Ethambutol and Pyrazinamide for a total of 6 months, Ethambutol and Pyrazinamide only the first two months. Some patients may need longer treatment (cavitary disease, kidney abscess/malfunction, HIV co-infection). Treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) requires use of long-term intravenous treatment with aminoglycosides and other drugs with considerable toxicity for 18–24 months. Complications such as urinary tract obstruction may occur and should be treated with corticosteroids or surgery.

Chronic kidney disease with genitourinary tuberculosis: old disease but ongoing complication

BACKGROUND

Genitourinary tuberculosis (GUTB) is a type of extrapulmonary TB that exerts a deleterious effect on renal function by promoting renal calcification and ureteric stricture. Therefore, we investigated the risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD) in GUTB patients after the end of treatment.

METHODS

This retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in South Korea. Data from patients (>18 years of age) with GUTB were collected from January 2005 to July 2016. CKD was defined as a glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73m² after the end of treatment.

RESULTS

In total, 56 patients with GUTB (46.4% males; mean age 52.8 ± 16.6 years) were enrolled in the study. CKD developed in 11 (19.6%) patients and end-stage renal disease in 4 (7.1%). In a univariate analysis, older age (p = 0.029), microscopic haematuria (p = 0.019), proteinuria (p = 0.029), acute renal failure (ARF) (p < 0.001) and a positive polymerase chain reaction-based test result for TB in the urine (p = 0.030) were significantly associated with decreased renal function. In a multivariate analysis, ARF (odds ratio [OR], 54.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.52-1944.00; p = 0.032) and old age (OR, 54.26; 95% CI, 1.52-1932.94; p = 0.028) were independent risk factors for CKD in GUTB patients.

CONCLUSIONS

ARF and old age were independent risk factors for CKD in GUTB patients. Therefore, in elderly GUTB patients with ARF at the time of diagnosis, regular follow-up of renal function should be performed even after the end of treatment.

Tuberculosis of the Urogenital Tract in Adults in a Tertiary Referral Center

The genitourinary system is the main location of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. In Poland, it occupies the third place after tuberculosis of the pleura and lymph nodes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of tuberculosis in the urogenital tract in adult patients in a tertiary referral center in the years 2007-2015. The retrospective study included 87 patients, 42 women and 45 men. The average age was 62 ± 15 years. Changes in the urinary tract were diagnosed in 91% of women and 64% of men. Testicular tuberculosis was found in ten men, prostate tuberculosis in five, and in individual cases tuberculosis of the epididymis, scrotum, uterus, and the fallopian tube were found. The diagnosis was confirmed by bacteriological methods in 47% of patients, by histopathological in 41%, and by molecular methods in 23% of patients. In 84% of patients urological or gynecological interventions had to be applied. Patients were burdened with a number of urological diseases or diseases affecting other systems which hampered the diagnosis of tuberculosis. Antituberculosis treatment gave good results. Urogenital tuberculosis is a multivariate disease and a standard unified approach is impossible.

GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay in the diagnosis of urinary tuberculosis from urine specimens

Conventional bacteriological methods are not generally helpful in diagnosing urinary tuberculosis (UTB). GeneXpert is endorsed for the detection of pulmonary tuberculosis, whereas the data on its utility for urine specimens is limited. In this study, we aimed to evaluate its performance on urine specimens in a country with high TB incidence. A total of 163 suspected UTB patients were consecutively enrolled in the analysis, including 37 (22.7%) culture-positive and 44 (27.0%) clinically diagnosed UTB cases. Compared with conventional culture, the sensitivity of GeneXpert (94.6%) was significantly higher than that of smear microscopy (40.5%, P < 0.001). When setting clinical diagnosis as gold standard, 51 out of 81 clinically diagnosed UTB cases were detected by GeneXpert, demonstrating a sensitivity of 63.0%, which was significantly higher than that of smear microscopy (18.5%, P < 0.001) and culture (45.7%, P = 0.027), respectively. In addition, the proportion of UTB cases in the migrant population was significantly higher than that in the resident population (P = 0.019). To conclude, our data demonstrate that GeneXpert outperforms AFB smear and culture for the detection of MTB in urine samples, which provides an alternative for the diagnosis of UTB. The migrant population and previously diagnosed TB cases are high risk factors for developing UTB cases.

Clinical Features and Drug-Resistance Profile of Urinary Tuberculosis in South-Western China: A Cross-sectional Study

To investigate the epidemiology, clinical features, and drug-resistance profile of urinary tuberculosis (UTB) in south-western China to improve UTB diagnostics.After the screening of 1036 cases of suspected UTB, 193 patients with UTB were enrolled during 2009 to 2014. Urine samples were collected for routine urinalysis, smear, tuberculosis DNA (TB-DNA) detection, and drug-resistant analysis, whereas blood samples were collected for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and renal function evaluation. Clinical features (such as symptoms and outcome) and imageology results (such as B ultrasonic, computerized tomography, intravenous pyelography, and renography) were also collected and analyzed to investigate the epidemiology, clinical features, and drug-resistance profile.The most common presenting symptoms were urinary irritation (61.1%) and lumbago (49.2%). High proportions of microscopic hematuria (63.2%) and microscopic proteinuria (45.6%) were also observed. The positive rate for TB-DNA was 66.3%. The positive rate for culture was 13.1% and for smear it was 9.8%. The abnormal outcome rates of the computerized tomography, ultrasonography, intravenous pyelography, and the nephrogram were 76.9%, 70.1%, 29.8%, and 37.0%, respectively. The total rate of drug-resistant TB (resistant to at least 1 drug) was 39.7%, of which 20.7% was multidrug-resistance TB. The most prevalent mutation sites were katG S315T1, rpoB S531L, and gyrA D94G.We observed a serious epidemic of drug-resistant UTB and a substantial number of new UTB cases with multidrug resistance TB. Molecular diagnostics is crucial in the definite diagnosis of UTB, and our finding is a supplement and further confirmation of polymerase chain reaction usage for TB diagnosis. We recommend real-time polymerase chain reaction for TB-DNA identification instead of culture, and GenoType tests (MTBDRplus and MTBDRsl assay) for drug resistance as routine assays for patients with suspected UTB.