The hidden hypothesis: A disseminated tuberculosis case.

dc.contributor.author

Foresti, Sergio

dc.contributor.author

Perego, Maria Rita

dc.contributor.author

Carugati, Manuela

dc.contributor.author

Casati, Anna

dc.contributor.author

Malafronte, Cristina

dc.contributor.author

Manzoni, Marco

dc.contributor.author

Badolato, Raffaele

dc.contributor.author

Gori, Andrea

dc.contributor.author

Achilli, Felice

dc.date.accessioned

2024-01-25T17:22:41Z

dc.date.available

2024-01-25T17:22:41Z

dc.date.issued

2019-08

dc.description.abstract

Case presentation

77-year-old former smoker admitted because of fatigue and abdominal distention. Past medical history positive for two previous hospitalizations for pericardial and pleural effusions (no diagnosis achieved). At admission erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 122mm per hour. Baseline investigations revealed ascitic, pleural and pericardial effusion. Effusions were tapped: neoplastic cells and acid-fast bacilli (AFB) were not identified, aerobic and mycobacterial culture resulted negative. QuantiFERON TB-Gold test was negative. Total body PET-CT and autoimmunity panel were negative. A neoplastic process was considered the most likely explanation. Before signing off the patient to comfort care, a reassessment was performed and an exposure to tuberculosis during childhood was documented. Because of constrictive pericarditis, pericardiectomy was performed: histologic examination showed chronic pericardial inflammation without granulomas, but Ziehl-Neelsen stain identified AFB and PCR was positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Patient was started on anti-TB therapy with resolution of the effusions in the following months. Genes associated with defects in innate immunity were sequences and dentritic cells were studied, but no alterations were identified.

Discussion

A Bayesian approach to clinical decision making should be recommended. Interpretation of diagnostic tests should take into account the imperfect diagnostic performance of the majority of these tests. Further studies to investigate genetic susceptibility to tuberculosis are needed.
dc.identifier

S1201-9712(19)30230-9

dc.identifier.issn

1201-9712

dc.identifier.issn

1878-3511

dc.identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10161/29853

dc.language

eng

dc.publisher

Elsevier BV

dc.relation.ispartof

International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases

dc.relation.isversionof

10.1016/j.ijid.2019.05.023

dc.rights.uri

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

dc.subject

Humans

dc.subject

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

dc.subject

Tuberculosis

dc.subject

Pericarditis, Tuberculous

dc.subject

Bayes Theorem

dc.subject

Aged

dc.subject

Male

dc.title

The hidden hypothesis: A disseminated tuberculosis case.

dc.type

Journal article

duke.contributor.orcid

Carugati, Manuela|0000-0002-3187-5905

pubs.begin-page

88

pubs.end-page

91

pubs.organisational-group

Duke

pubs.organisational-group

School of Medicine

pubs.organisational-group

Clinical Science Departments

pubs.organisational-group

Medicine

pubs.organisational-group

Medicine, Infectious Diseases

pubs.publication-status

Published

pubs.volume

85

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
HiddenHypothesis1-s2.0-S1201971219302309.pdf
Size:
947.09 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Published version