Pulmonary tuberculosis in a cohort of forensic autopsies: a preliminary study from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Aims The purpose of this study was to identify any cases of previously undiagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis during autopsy. Methods This prospective study investigated a cohort of deceased individuals that underwent a full external and internal postmortem examination at the Forensic Medicine Centre, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Gross pathology, histopathology and molecular pathology were used to identify pulmonary tuberculosis in forensic autopsy samples from the lungs. Results A total of 82 cases autopsied were included in the study. The mean ± SD age of the study cohort was 35.5 ± 10.3 years (range, 20–80 years). Males ( n = 70; 85.37%) outnumbered females. The deceased were from 15 different countries. The number of Saudis was 16 (19.51%). The maximum number of non-Saudis was from India with 26 cases (31.71%). There were no cases of undiagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis detected for the first time at autopsy. Conclusions Although the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in forensic autopsy cases in this preliminary study was nil, we recommend further studies to be conducted on a larger scale and in different autopsy centres throughout Saudi Arabia to get an insight into the burden of clinically undiagnosed tuberculosis in the entire country.