A case of disseminated tuberculosis mimicking metastatic cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUND: bacilli, which may then affect virtually any organ system. The multiple organ involvement in disseminated TB can mimic metastatic cancer and can make the diagnosis challenging. False negatives are common therefore repeating microbiologic and histologic samples is essential. CASE REPORT: -bronchial biopsy and pleural biopsy showed necrotizing granuloma and helped to narrow down the diagnosis. The patient improved with RIPE therapy. CONCLUSION: This case illustrates the diagnostic difficulty of disseminated TB with atypical organ involvement. Culture is the gold standard for diagnosing TB but is a long process and with 23% of culture negative TB in the United-States, the diagnosis sometimes relies on thoroughly ruling-out differential diagnosis and histologic examination.