Short Course for Focused Assessment with Sonography for Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Tuberculosis: Preliminary Results in a Rural Setting in South Africa with High Prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Tuberculosis

Abstract

In Africa, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–associated extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is common and poses diagnostic difficulties. Ultrasound is useful to find suggestive signs such as effusions or abdominal lymphadenopathy. Because trained radiologists are scarce in resource-poor settings, even this simple and relatively inexpensive diagnostic tool is frequently unavailable to patients in district hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa. We developed a focused protocol for assessment with sonography for HIV/TB and trained physicians in a rural district hospital in South Africa. In this pilot study, high levels of confidence in identifying specific signs were rapidly achieved and ultrasound was introduced into routine clinical practice.