Infectious diseases are frequent in chronic dialysis patients. Our study had for objective to describe the prevalence and the clinical presentation of tuberculosis in the chronic dialysis patient. This observational study was conducted over a period of 21 months in chronically hemodialyzed patients.
Results: Among 118 patients chronically dialysed and during the study period, seven (5.9%) presented tuberculosis. An average lag time of 13,7 months was observed between the beginning of the dialysis and the appearance of the signs of tuberculosis, and of 10,4 weeks between the first signs and the beginning of treatment. Extrapulmonary localization was observed in six cases among seven peritoneal involvements.
Conclusion: Extrapulmonary localisation is a characteristic of tuberculosis in the chronic dialysis patients. Systematic screening of tuberculosis is recommended in order to start chemotherapy without any delay.
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