Complications of Tuberculosis
Primary tuberculosis most common complications presented as peripheral lymphadenitis, pleural effusion or meningeal and miliary tuberculosis. Late complications are less frequent and can be tb bone, renal, cutaneous, peritoneal, ocular, genital, or mastoid and middle ear. The chronic pulmonary tuberculosis usually remains localized and lung disease.
Tuberculosis, Miliary .- It is one of the most serious and frequent complications of primary tuberculosis. Usually occurs during the first 6 months of starting TB infection. It is characterized by fever, respiratory symptoms and hepatosplenomegaly. Just as malaise, weakness and signs of moderate or severe respiratory failure.PLEURAL EFFUSION .- This complication occurs in 5 to 8% of patients with tuberculosis, especially in schoolchildren and adolescents is determined by the direct extension of a parenchymal lesion. The picture is insidious, but usually acute with high fever, chest pain that increases with breathing movements and sometimes abdominal pain. A physical examination data are pleural effusion syndrome.
Peripheral lymphadenitis .- It is the most common complication of primary tuberculosis in children. Located in the 2 to 5% of cases and its location is cervical. This condition is characterized by the presence of cervical tumors mainly on the right side, later abscess fistulized and calcify. It is accompanied by mild fever.
In primary pulmonary tuberculosis rarely are alterations to the physical examination of the lung fields and sometimes only found decreased breath sounds. Clinical examination of the lung fields of a patient with chronic pulmonary tuberculosis can be normal or reveal rales apical alveolar areas. Hemoptysis in adults rarely occurs in children and adolescents. On chest radiographs there is a small area or areas pneumonic pneumonic apical lobar or segmental.
The diagnosis of miliary tuberculosis is mainly done by chest radiographic examination showing bilateral diffuse mottling as the tuberculin test is positive in only 65% of cases. Another fact is that TB can be found in the choroid and granulomas in liver biopsy. The culture was positive for 70% of cases of M. Tuberculosis.
The definitive diagnosis of tuberculosis can only be done by growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis, using diverse as biological samples, tracheal exudate, gastric, pleural, peritoneal or cerebrospinal, urine, bone marrow and tissue biopsy.
The tuberculin test is the type of delayed hypersensitivity produced by cell-mediated immune response (allergy type IV) and is helpful for diagnosis, since a positive reaction indicates the presence of tuberculosis infection.
Posted in 
Tags: