• The team of researchers reached the startling conclusion, after successfully characterising the chest deformities.
• The 2016 national TB survey was the second in Kenya since 1958.
Image: Charlene Marwa
The last national TB survey in 2016 revealed thousands of Kenyans have abnormalities in their chests.
For a long time, scientists have been studying the chest X-rays taken that year to understand what these abnormalities might be.
A team of researchers now say they have reached a startling conclusion, after successfully characterising the deformities.
The findings were reported in a non-peer reviewed paper, published in August last year by the pre-print platform medRxiv.
The scientists report that a large number of Kenyans X-rayed in the TB survey have abnormally enlarged hearts, a condition known as cardiomegaly.
“At the outset of the study, we expected abnormalities to be primarily related to non-TB pulmonary disease. However, the most prevalent finding was cardiomegaly at 23∙1 per cent,” they report.
“This is higher than in a smaller South African study, which reported cardiomegaly in 12∙7 per cent of chest X-rays taken during a vaccine study, among HIV-positive participants.”
The Kenyan study is the first in sub-Saharan Africa to characterise and quantify non-TB chest X-ray findings among participants who underwent mass screening as part of a population-based TB prevalence survey.
The 2016 national TB survey was the second in Kenya since 1958.
The survey showed a prevalence of 558 people with TB per 100,000 adult population. The highest disease burden was reported among people aged 25–34 years, males and those who live in urban areas
Of the total 62,484 participants who underwent chest X-rays in that survey, 6,425 (10.3 per cent) had “abnormal, suggestive of TB”, and 5,124 had “abnormal other” results.
“We reviewed a random sample of 1,140 adult chest X-rays classified as ‘abnormal, suggestive of TB’ or ‘abnormal other’ during field interpretation from the TB Prevalence Survey,” the Kenyan scientists say.
They also identified other silent killer conditions, apart from enlarged hearts.
“We also identified chronic pulmonary pathology, including suspected chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 3∙2 per cent and non-specific patterns in 4.6 per cent,” they say.
COP is characterised by long-term breathing problems and poor airflow. The main symptoms include shortness of breath and cough with sputum production.
On the other hand, hearts can be enlarged by many conditions, including hypertension, coronary artery disease, infections, inherited disorders, and diseases of the heart muscle that cause it to grow abnormally bigger.
Symptoms, when noticeable, include abnormal heart rhythms, chest pain, coughing, dizziness, extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, stomach bloating, swelling of the ankles, feet, and legs.
Some people might also have temporarily enlarged hearts, caused by excessive alcohol intake or drug use, extreme stress, pregnancy and viral infection of the heart.
An enlarged heart is easier to treat when it's detected early.
Experts recommend mass radiography to tackle chest problems.
“We recommend a patient-centered approach incorporating NCDs screening and health promotion during TB ACF (identification of people with suspected active ) activities,” they say.
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