Miliary tuberculosis following intravesical Bacillus Calmette and Guérin therapy: A rare complication of a frequent procedure

Lobna Loued; Nesrine Fahem; Rania Kaddoussi; Mabrouk Abdelaaly; Saoussen Cheikh Mhamed; Naceur Rouatbi

doi:10.1016/j.eucr.2021.101655

Miliary tuberculosis following intravesical Bacillus Calmette and Guérin therapy: A rare complication of a frequent procedure

Urol Case Rep. 2021 Mar 26:38:101655. doi: 10.1016/j.eucr.2021.101655. eCollection 2021 Sep.

Authors

Lobna Loued¹, Nesrine Fahem¹, Rania Kaddoussi¹, Mabrouk Abdelaaly², Saoussen Cheikh Mhamed¹, Naceur Rouatbi¹

Affiliations

¹ Pneumology Department, Fattouma Bourguiba Hospital of Monastir, Tunisia.
² Radiology Department, Fattouma Bourguiba Hospital of Monastir, Tunisia.

Abstract

The standard treatment for superficial vesical tumors is transurethral resection (TUR) followed by intravesical instillation of Bacillus Calmette and Guérin (BCG). Pulmonary complications of BCG-therapy are rare but could be life threatening. We report the case of a 54-year-old patient who received BCG-therapy after TUR. After the sixth session of BCG instillations, the patient was diagnosed with a miliary tuberculosis secondary to BCG-therapy. We observed a progressive clinical and radiological improvement under specific tuberculosis treatment. Early diagnosis of pulmonary side effects of BCG-therapy and prompt treatment are the keys to complete recovery and survival.

Keywords: BCG, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin; Bladder cancer; CT, Computed Tomography; EORTC, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer; Intravesical BCG; Miliary pulmonary tuberculosis; Mycobacterium bovis; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; TUR, Transurethral Resection.

Publication types

Case Reports