title: Tuberculous peritonitis.
abstract: We report a case of tuberculous peritonitis in a 24-year-old male patient. On admission, he was complaining of abdominal fullness and fever. Ultrasound tomography and computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen showed massive ascites with multiple septa. The most interesting feature of this case was the diffuse and intense uptake of gallium-67 in the abdomen. Though the initial chest X-ray showed only slight bilateral pleural effusion, and cultures from ascites, stool, sputum, and pleural effusion were negative for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, CT scan of the lung showed a small consolidation shadow with contractile change, similar to tuberculosis. A few days after the CT scan of the lung, the sputum was positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Finally we diagnosed active tuberculous peritonitis, and then started antituberculous therapy. In patients with massive ascites and fever of unknown origin, tuberculous peritonitis must be considered. Gallium-67 scintigraphy has been shown to be useful when there is a high index of suspicion of tuberculous peritonitis.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Internal Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Makiyama
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okuyama
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okajima
authors.forename: Sotaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents