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Of all the manifestations of tuberculosis, pulmonary tuberculosis gets the maximum attention. So much so that often what pertains to pulmonary tuberculosis only is mentioned as if it applies in general to tuberculosis as a whole which is not always and entirely correct. There is, however, justification for the importance given to pulmonary disease since it is the most frequent of all manifestations and is practically the only manifestation which is infectious. Even though non-pulmonary tuberculosis is non-infectious, it does lead to con-siderable suffering and some disability and certainly merits more attention than that given to it hitherto. There is much. | The Indian Journal of Tuberculosis Vol. XXIX New Delhi October 1982 No. 4 NON-PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS Of all the manifestations of tuberculosis pulmonary tuberculosis gets the maximum attention. So much so that often what pertains to pulmonary tuberculosis only is mentioned as if it applies in general to tuberculosis as a whole which is not always and entirely correct. There is however justification for the importance given to pulmonary disease since it is the most frequent of all manifestations and is practically the only manifestation which is infectious. Even though non-pulmonary tuberculosis is non-infectious it does lead to considerable suffering and some disability and certainly merits more attention than that given to it hitherto. There is much about non-pulmonary tuberculosis which is not fully known at present. We do not know with any degree of accuracy about its prevalence and incidence. This holds good not only for developing countries but also for western countries with good health intelligence and authentic vital statistics. This is partly because of the lack of dependable diagnostic criteria. Very often the diagnosis is presumptive. Bacteriological confirmation of the diagnosis is exceptional. Radiology helps in the diagnosis to a large extent only in the disease of the bones and joints. Disease involving the abdomen and lymphnodes in the absence of caseation and liquefaction cannot be diagnosed definitely without biopsy which is often refused by the patients. Secondly the available information on non-pulmonary manifestations is based usually on the morbidity notifications or records of hospitals clinics. The extent of silent and subclinical forms is anybody s guess. It is well known that in pulmonary tuberculosis known cases are always less than the total cases present in any community or country at any point of time and these latter can only be discovered by means of a total survey. Does the same hold good for non-pulmonary tuberculosis also and if .