1993 Volume 26 Issue 12 Pages 1757-1761
One hundred and six diabetic patients on maintenance hemodialysis (72 men and 34 women, mean age 58) were studied for the incidence of tuberculosis. Five patients were definitely diagnosed by positive cultures, biopsy or autopsy. Ten patients were provisionally diagnosed by the effect of antituberculosis therapy for fever of unknown origin with positive tuberculin reaction or inflammatory reaction. Therefore, we diagnosed 15 patients (14.1%) as having tuberculosis. There were no differences in age, duration of diabetes, insulin usage and other diabetic complications between the patients with and without tuberculosis. Nine patients had a past history of tuberculosis and 13 patients were diagnosed as having tuberculosis within 6 months after the beginning of hemodialysis treatment among 15 patients with tuberculosis.
