Interstitial Lung Diseases Misdiagnosed as Tuberculosis

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of misdiagnosis of tuberculosis in interstitial lung disease cases. METHODS: This is a prospective study including patients registered in the interstitial lung disease clinic, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Karachi, during May–June 2017. Diagnosis of tuberculosis was only confirmed if there was any bacteriological evidence of tuberculosis at the time of diagnosis or if there was improvement in symptoms after treatment in patients diagnosed as having tuberculosis on clinical grounds. RESULTS: Seventy-three patients were included in the study, out of which 53 (72.60%) were females and 20 (27.39%) were males. Tuberculosis was treated before presentation in 28 (38.35%) of interstitial lung disease patients. Except for two silicosis patients who had smear positive tuberculosis, rest of the patients were misdiagnosed as having tuberculosis. CONCLUSION: Interstitial lung diseases are the disorders that are frequently unrecognized and misdiagnosed. More commonly the confusion is with tuberculosis. Thorough knowledge about interstitial lung diseases should be provided to the primary care physicians, especially in countries with high tuberculosis burden, so that to limit maltreatment with anti-tuberculous drugs when they are not needed and early referral to interstitial lung disease clinic.