Solitary pleural nodule: a late paradoxical reaction to antituberculosis treatment

Abstract

We present the case of a young woman with a history of previously treated pleural and pulmonary tuberculosis referred to our hospital for chest pain and a single pleural nodule seen on plain chest films and chest CT. Cultures of inflammatory-type material obtained by US-guided fine-needle biopsy of the pleural lesion were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. The diagnosis was a paradoxical reaction to antituberculosis treatment; after 6 more months of treatment, the pleural lesion and chest pain disappeared.

Keywords: Antituberculosis treatment; Nódulo pleural; Paradoxical reaction; Pleural nodule; Reacción paradójica; Thoracic tuberculosis; Tratamiento antituberculoso; Tuberculosis torácica.