Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Case 12-2006. A 37-year-old man with hemoptysis and a pulmonary infiltrate

Clinical features of atypical tuberculosis mimicking bacterial pneumonia

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study is to investigate clinical features of atypical pulmonary tuberculosis (aPTB) mimicking bacterial pneumonia, determine imaging features with the highest degree of correlation, and identify predictors for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) positivity.

METHODS

The clinical data of 259 patients considered as aPTB were retrospectively analyzed. The correlation of CT patterns was evaluated with Spearman analysis, and the predictors for AFB positivity were assessed with the multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

The most common symptom of aPTB was cough (84.6%), followed by fever and anorexia (47.1 and 41.7%, respectively). Infiltrated patchy was the most common radiological pattern (84.9%), followed by nodules (3-10 mm), micronodules (<3 mm), and consolidation (79.2, 78.8, and 66.0%, respectively). Nodules (3-10 mm) and micronodules (r = 0.988, p < 0.001), consolidation and air bronchogram (r = 0.590, p < 0.001), and pulmonary atelectasis and consolidation (r = 0.323, p < 0.001) showed high correlation. In the multivariate analysis, hyperpyrexia (OR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.22-4.29) and bronchiectasis (OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.04-4.06) were the predictors of AFB-smear positivity, while bulla (OR, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.05-0.97) was the predictor of AFB-smear negativity.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated the clinical and radiological features of aPTB mimicking pneumonia. Several paired radiological findings may guide us to the diagnosis of aPTB. Hyperpyrexia and bronchiectasis may be helpful for predicting AFB positivity, and bulla may be a predictive sign of AFB negativity.

Sternal osteomyelitis caused by infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis

We report the case of a 74-year-old male patient with a one-year history of chest pain in the suprasternal notch associated with erythema, edema and drainage of purulent material from a fistulous lesion. The patient was HIV-negative with no history of TB. A CT scan of the chest showed an osteolytic lesion in the sternum, and a biopsy revealed caseous granuloma, which, in the microbiological evaluation, was negative for fungi and acid-fast bacilli. The diagnosis of sternal osteomyelitis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis was confirmed using PCR.