Categorisation of Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis cases

There was confusion in categorisation of Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis
cases. To clear the confusion the following points from the Training Module
for Medical Practitioners are given below.

Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis

This includes TB of organs other than the lungs. Patients who have both pulmonary

and extra-pulmonary TB are classified as having pulmonary tuberculosis. The site of

the EPTB lesion is documented. Certain forms of EPTB are considered as seriously

ill (Please see table below).

Seriously ill EPTB	Not seriously ill EPTB
• Meningitis	• Lymph node
• Pericarditis	• Pleural effusion (unilateral)
• Peritonitis	• Peripheral joints
• Bilateral or extensive pleural effusion
• Spinal TB with neurological involvement
• Intestinal
• Genito-urinary
• Co-infection with HIV
• All forms of pediatric extra-pulmonary TB other than lymph node TB and unilateral pleural effusion are considered to be seriously ill

Any patient, with pulmonary or extra-pulmonary TB, who is known to be HIV positive

based on voluntary sharing of results and/or history of anti-retroviral therapy, is

considered as seriously ill.

Dr Marwah