Effect of malnutrition on radiographic findings and mycobacterial burden in pulmonary tuberculosis

The relationship between malnutrition and tuberculosis (TB) severity is understudied. We investigated the effect of malnutrition on radiographic findings and mycobacterial burden. Subjects included newly diagnosed, smear-positive, culture-confirmed, pulmonary TB cases enrolled in the Regional Prospective Observational Research for TB (RePORT) cohort. Multivariate regression models were used to evaluate the relationship at start of treatment between body mass index (BMI) and chest radiograph (CXR) findings of cavitation and percentage of lung affected and mycobacterial growth indicator tube (MGIT) time to positive (TTP). Severe malnutrition was defined as BMI