Objective:

To describe the topography and radiographic patterns of pulmonary tuberculosis in migrant population.

Material and methods:

The databases of pulmonary tuberculosis cases (PTB) confirmed with culture positive and their postero-anterior chest radiographs were reviewed.

Results:

According to the medical and radiographic evaluation of 394,482 applicants to emigrate to the United States, 8,775 (2.2%) were suspected, of which, 157 (1.8%) were positive for PTB. In 99%, the suspicion of PTB arose by chest X-ray, 1.18% was from HIV and the remaining 0.05% by clinical data. The most frequently observed pulmonary topography was the right apex (63.76%), and the most frequently observed radiographic pattern was the infiltrate (71.81%).

Conclusions:

The diagnosis of tuberculosis, in all forms, is not easy. And outside the gold standard (culture), there are no other tests that give us an assurance of diagnosis. However, although there are no pathognomonic manifestations of PTB in the chest X-ray; we can observe radiographic patterns and pulmonary topography, which give us the possibility of suspicion of this pathology, so this study remains a very useful tool in the diagnosis of TB.