• Junsu Choe, Areum Han, Sun Hye Shin, Kyungjong Lee, Sang-Won Um, Hojoong Kim, Tae Yeul Kim, Hee Jae Huh, Yoon-La Choi, Joungho Han, and Byeong-Ho Jeong.
• Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2023 Dec 4; 38 (47): e348e348.

BackgroundParadoxical responses (PR) occur more frequently in lymph node tuberculosis (LNTB) than in pulmonary tuberculosis and present difficulties in differential diagnosis of drug resistance, new infection, poor patient compliance, and adverse drug reactions. Although diagnosis of mediastinal LNTB has become much easier with the development of endosonography, limited information is available. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical course of mediastinal LNTB and the risk factors associated with PR.MethodsPatients diagnosed with mediastinal LNTB via endosonography were evaluated retrospectively between October 2009 and December 2019. Multivariable logistic regression was applied to evaluate the risk factors associated with PR.ResultsOf 9,052 patients who underwent endosonography during the study period, 158 were diagnosed with mediastinal LNTB. Of these, 55 (35%) and 41 (26%) concurrently had pulmonary tuberculosis and extrapulmonary tuberculosis other than mediastinal LNTB, respectively. Of 125 patients who completed anti-tuberculosis treatment, 21 (17%) developed PR at a median of 4.4 months after initiation of anti-tuberculosis treatment. The median duration of anti-tuberculosis treatment was 6.3 and 10.4 months in patients without and with PR, respectively. Development of PR was independently associated with age < 55 years (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 5.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.81-18.14; P = 0.003), lymphocyte count < 800/μL (aOR, 8.59; 95% CI, 1.60-46.20; P = 0.012), and short axis diameter of the largest lymph node (LN) ≥ 16 mm (aOR, 5.22; 95% CI, 1.70-16.00; P = 0.004) at the time of diagnosis of mediastinal LNTB.ConclusionAs PR occurred in one of six patients with mediastinal LNTB during anti-tuberculosis treatment, physicians should pay attention to patients with risk factors (younger age, lymphocytopenia, and larger LN) at the time of diagnosis.© 2023 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

18 keywords...

hide…