Prevalence of tuberculosis in post-mortem studies of HIV-infected adults and children in resource-limited settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: AIDS (London) Vol. 29; no. 15; pp. 1987 - 2002
• Main Authors: Gupta, Rishi K, Lucas, Sebastian B, Fielding, Katherine L, Lawn, Stephen D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Copyright Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc 24.09.2015; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Africa South of the Sahara - epidemiology; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Americas - epidemiology; Asia - epidemiology; Autopsy; Clinical Science; Developing Countries; Female; HIV Infections - complications; Humans; Lentivirus; Male; Middle Aged; Mycobacterium; Prevalence; Retroviridae; Tuberculosis - epidemiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0269-9370; 1473-5571
• DOI: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000000802

OBJECTIVES:Tuberculosis (TB) is estimated to be the leading cause of HIV-related deaths globally. However, since HIV-associated TB frequently remains unascertained, we systematically reviewed autopsy studies to determine the true burden of TB at death. METHODS:We systematically searched Medline and Embase databases (to end 2013) for literature reporting on health facility-based autopsy studies of HIV-infected adults and/or children in resource-limited settings. Using forest plots and random-effects meta-analysis, we summarized the TB prevalence found at autopsy and used meta-regression to explore variables associated with autopsy TB prevalence. RESULTS:We included 36 eligible studies, reporting on 3237 autopsies. Autopsy TB prevalence was extremely heterogeneous (range 0–64.4%), but was markedly higher in adults [pooled prevalence 39.7%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 32.4–47.0%] compared to children (pooled prevalence 4.5%, 95% CI 1.7–7.4%). Post-mortem TB prevalence varied by world region, with pooled estimates in adults of 63.2% (95% CI 57.7–68.7%) in South Asia (n = 2 studies); 43.2% (95% CI 38.0–48.3) in sub-Saharan Africa (n = 9 studies); and 27.1% (95% CI 16.0–38.1%) in the Americas (n = 5 studies). Autopsy prevalence positively correlated with contemporary estimates of national TB prevalence. TB in adults was disseminated in 87.9% (82.2–93.7%) of cases and was considered the cause of death in 91.4% (95% CI 85.8–97.0%) of TB cases. Overall, TB was the cause of death in 37.2% (95% CI 25.7–48.7%) of adult HIV/AIDS-related deaths. TB remained undiagnosed at death in 45.8% (95% CI 32.6–59.1%) of TB cases. CONCLUSIONS:In resource-limited settings, TB accounts for approximately 40% of facility-based HIV/AIDS-related adult deaths. Almost half of this disease remains undiagnosed at the time of death. These findings highlight the critical need to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of HIV-associated TB globally.