ABSTRACT
Patients on immunosuppressive therapy are at increased risk of developing tuberculosis. We report a 39-year-old female with an ulcerative colitis receiving prednisone, azathioprine and azulfidine that was admitted to hospital due to fever, anemia, diarrhea and hematochezia. A chest CT scan showed multiple miliary micronodular images diffusely distributed and mediastinal enlarged lymph nodes with central necrosis, suggestive of disseminated tuberculosis. Antituberculous treatment was started but discontinued and the patient was treated as a bronchiolitis obliterans with methylprednisolone pulses and discharged. She was readmitted in shock one week later and died. After her death cultures for Mycobacterium tuberculosis were informed as positive. The clinical picture of the patient is known as sepsis tuberculosa gravissima.
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Colitis, Ulcerative/drug therapy , Immunosuppressive Agents/adverse effects , Shock, Septic/microbiology , Tuberculosis, Miliary/microbiology , Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/microbiology , Fatal Outcome , Immunocompromised HostABSTRACT
Tuberculosis Verrucosa Cutis (TBVC) or warty tuberculosis is a variant of cutaneous tuberculosis in patients with good cell mediated immunity (CMI) to Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, while Miliary Tuberculosis is associated with very poor CMI. Two widely different clinical presentations in the same patient are very rare and being reported.