[Active pulmonary tuberculosis in the community. Current presentation].
OBJECTIVE: To discover how patients in a provincial general hospital, diagnosed as having pulmonary tuberculosis had first clinically and radiologically presented. DESIGN: This was a retrospective observational study. SITE. The San Jorge de Huesca General Hospital. The period of study was between January, 1986, and December, 1989. PATIENTS AND OTHERS PARTICIPANTS: Those studied were the 59 patients diagnosed as having active pulmonary tuberculosis during the study period. MAIN MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 45.6 +/- 19.25 SD. There was greater occurrence in males. The most common form in which the disease first appeared was thoracic symptomatology (59%), followed by constitutional syndrome (45.7%). 8 patients were addicted to drugs taken parenterally (ADVP), of whom 4 were HIV-positive (6.8%). The most common radiological pattern was ulcero-caseous. CONCLUSIONS: We underline the importance of diagnostical awareness at the Primary Care level in order to rapidly begin the correct treatment; and thus fight the adverse epidemiological situation caused by tuberculosis today.