Correlation between lesion extent on chest x-ray and positivity of sputum smear with platelet profile in new case pulmonary tuberculosis patients

Background: Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) is an infection disease caused by bacilli bacteria called Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTB).1 Mycobacterium Tuberculosis invades the human body via droplet and induces pulmonary inflammation.2 Platelets play a role as inflammatory cells that contributed in chemotaxis, phagocytosis, complement activation and inflammatory mediators release. Platelet count and indices can be used to assess the PTB disease severity.3 Objective: To assess the correlation between lesion extent of chest x-ray and positivity of sputum smear with platelet profile in positive sputum smear new case PTB patients. Methods: This study was analytical study with cross-sectional design. Research subjects were 50 patients with positive sputum smear new case PTB. Lesion extent on chest x-ray was assessed and the platelet profile including platelet count, plateletcrit (PCT), Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) and Platelet Distribution Width were estimated. Results: Platelet count and PCT were significantly higher in PTB subjects with advanced lesion than minimal lesion (p<0,001) while MPV and PDW were lower in PTB subjects with advanced lesion than minimal lesion, but not significant (p>0,05 and p>0,05). According to the positivity of AFB smear sputum, platelet count was significantly higher in PTB subjects with sputum smear +2 than sputum smear +1 (p<0,028) while MPV and PDW were lowest in PTB subjects with sputum smear +3 and highest in PTB subjects with sputum smear +1, but not significant. Conclusions: Platelet count and PCT were significantly higher in PTB subjects with advanced lesion than minimal lesion, while MPV and PDW were lower in PTB subjects with advanced lesion than minimal lesion but not significant. According to the positivity of sputum smear, platelet count was significantly higher in PTB subjects with sputum smear +2 than sputum smear +1 while MPV and PDW were not significant.