Revista de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Medicina

A Rare Case of Tuberculous Pleural Effusion Diagnosed by Ziehl Neelson Stain

Abstract

Avinash Kumar and Anshul Kumar

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the etiologic agent of tuberculosis which remains the leading cause of mortality, internationally. It commonly affects the lungs but can also infect other parts of the body. Extra pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) includes lymphatic, pleural, skeletal, ocular, endometrial, pancreatic, genitourinary, cerebral, and meningeal or military tuberculosis. In India EPTB, particularly of Pleural cavity is reported rarely. Pleural effusion is an excessive accumulation of fluid in the pleural cavity which, in normal condition, contains a relatively small amount of fluid-approximately 10 ml on each side. The idea of this article is to diagnose TB of pleural cavity by Ziehl Neelson staining, which usually presents with fever, weight loss and cough.