PATTERNS OF CHEST X-RAY FINDINGS IN CHILDREN WITH SEVERE PNEUMONIA ADMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, TIKUR ANBESSA SPECIALIZED HOSPITAL

Abstract

Background: Respiratory diseases are a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide especially in most developing countries. Amongst these respiratory diseases, pneumonia is the leading cause of death in children worldwide. In developing countries childhood pneumonias were diagnosed using clinical parameters, usually based on presence of cough and fast breathing. The simple chest radiograph has been an important investigative tool in the diagnoses of pneumonia.
Objective: To see the pattern of chest x- ray (CXR) findings in patients with severe pneumonia.
Methods: A prospective cross sectional study of 162 patients with severe pneumonia who were admitted to paedi-atric emergency unit of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH) with chest x-ray.
Result: The prevalence of positive chest x ray finding in patients with severe pneumonia was (48%).The common-est site of CXR finding was on the right upper lobe which accounts to 78.7%. Related type of chest x-ray finding was consolidation (27%). Chest x-ray has strong association with late presentation and underlying medical illness.
Conclusion: Chest X-ray can give useful information about the presence of pneumonia more commonly if chest x-ray taken after 4 days of illness, so physicians should select patients who need x-rays immediately, to avoid un-necessary exposure to radiation and wastage of time and money