[A case of tuberculous pleurisy with transient new intra-pulmonary lesions during anti-tuberculosis therapy]

Kekkaku. 2010 Aug;85(8):667-71.
[Article in Japanese]

Abstract

A 24-year-old man who had been treated 3 months for tuberculous pleurisy presented with thoracic back pain. Chest CT showed a new lesion abutting the pleura, despite the disappearance of pleural effusion. Two weeks later, the mass abutting the pleura progressed to form a new intrapulmonary infiltrative shadow. A transbronchial lung biopsy was performed and the histopathologic examination of the specimen from this lesion revealed granulomatous inflammation without caseous necrosis or acid-fast bacilli. No acid-fast bacilli were cultured from the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Anti-tuberculosis medication was continued without change, and the lesions finally resolved. More than 3 years have passed since the completion of anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy, and no recurrence has been observed. We believe that these lesions were pulmonary tuberculomas and transient intra-pulmonary infiltration due to non-specific inflammation, caused secondarily by an excessive immune response, as in paradoxical worsening.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Antitubercular Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Ethambutol / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Isoniazid / therapeutic use
  • Lung / pathology*
  • Male
  • Pyrazinamide / therapeutic use
  • Rifampin / therapeutic use
  • Tuberculosis, Pleural / drug therapy*
  • Tuberculosis, Pleural / pathology*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antitubercular Agents
  • Pyrazinamide
  • Ethambutol
  • Isoniazid
  • Rifampin