OBJECTIVE: To look for correlations between radiological patterns and CD4+ T cell counts in patients coinfected with tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus. METHODS: Patients included were selected from among those presenting human immunodeficiency virus/tuberculosis coinfection and admitted to the Nereu Ramos Hospital, located in Florianópolis, Brazil, between January of 2000 and December of 2003. RESULTS: A total of 87 patients were included. The mean age was 34 ± 8 years, and 6.8% were non-Caucasian. The mean CD4+ T cell count was 220.2 cells/mm³ (median, 144 cells/mm³), and 56.4% of the patients presented less than 200 cells/mm³. We identified the following radiographic patterns and related them to the CD4+ T cell counts: the alveolar pattern in 50.6% of the cases (56.8% CD4+ T cells < 200); the interstitial pattern in 32.2% (53.6% CD4+ T cells < 200); pleural effusion in 24.1% (47.6% CD4+ T cells < 200); cavitation in 24.1% (57.1% CD4+ T cells < 200); enlarged mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes in 11.5% (90% CD4+ T cells < 200); and a normal pattern in 11.5% (60% CD4+ T cells < 200). The mean CD4+ T cell counts for the radiologic patterns isolated were as follows: 235.2/mm³ (alveolar consolidation); 208.8/mm³ (interstitial); 243.3/mm³ (pleural effusion); 265/mm³ (cavitation); 115.1/mm³ (enlarged mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes) (p < 0.05); and 205.5/mm³ (presenting no radiological alterations). As noted, mediastinal/hilar lymph node enlargement was the only pattern that correlated with the degree of cell-mediated immunity in a statistically significant way. CONCLUSION: With the exception of mediastinal/hilar lymph node enlargement, the radiographic patterns were randomly distributed in relation to the CD4+ T cell counts.
Tuberculosis; pulmonary; HIV infections; Lung; AIDS-related opportunistic infections; CD4 lymphocyte count; T-lymphocytes, helper-inducer
