BACKGROUND: @entity378 ( @entity378 ) is a @entity281 mainly affecting the lungs. Early and correct diagnosis of sputum smear negative @entity1 by chest radiography (CXR) is challenging since it depends on reader's ability to detect abnormal findings and to interpret it correctly. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the validity and reliability of CXR the diagnosis of @entity378 among smear negative @entity1907 ( @entity1907 ). METHODS: An institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted at seven selected health facilities from October 2011 to September 2012 on 159 adults aged 18 years and above who were newly diagnosed smear negative for @entity1907 @entity1 diagnosed using Chest X-ray (CXR). Morning sputum was collected and cultured from each @entity1 using Lowenstein Jensen media. All the CXRs were revised by senior radiologists in conjunction with the principal investigator. A structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic, clinical and radiological data. Sensitivity and specificity measures of the CXR findings were calculated in comparison to the gold standard sputum culture results. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of @entity1 involved in the study was 37.1 (16.7), ranging from 18 to 87 years. Of the total 159 smear negative @entity1907 @entity1 , the most common CXR finding was consolidation (40.3%) followed by cavitations (23.9%) and nodular lesions (17.0%). Sputum culture results showed that, 47 (29.6%) were culture positive, 103 (64.7%) were culture negative and 9 (5.6%) were contaminated. About 14% (22/159) of the study subjects were @entity645 positive. The sensitivity and specificity of CXR findings were 77.1% (37/48) and 36.9% (41/111), respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 34.6% (3 7/107) and 78.8% (41/52), respectively. CONCLUSION: CXR can be used as supportive investigative modality to diagnose smear negative @entity1907 in conditions where @entity378 culture is no more feasible.

EVALUATING THE VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF CHEST RADIOGRAPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF TUBERCULOSIS AMONG SMEAR NEGATIVE PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient'] @entity645 :: ('57667', 'Species') :: ['HIV'] @entity281 :: ('MESH:D007239', 'Disease') :: ['mycobacterial infection'] @entity378 :: ('MESH:D014376', 'Disease') :: ['Tuberculosis', 'TB'] @entity1907 :: ('MESH:D014397', 'Disease') :: ['pulmonary tuberculosis', 'PTB', 'Pulmonary TB']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['PATIENTS']
