title: Congenital miliary tuberculosis in an 18-day-old boy.
abstract: Congenital tuberculosis (TB) is a rare disease that is associated with high mortality.Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent, may be transmitted from the infected mother to the fetus by the transplacental route or by aspiration of infected amniotic fluid. Clinical symptoms and signs are not specific. Miliary patterns are the most common findings in the chest X-rays of many infants with congenital TB. In this case, an 18-day-old boy had jaundice on the fifth day of birth, and fever and respiratory distress appeared on the 18th day. Chest X-ray showed diffuse fine bilateral infiltration. Clinically, pneumonia or sepsis was suspected. Respiratory symptoms and chest X-ray findings worsened despite empirical antibiotic therapy. The lungs showed miliary infiltration suggestive of TB. Gastric aspirates were positive forM. tuberculosis. Respiratory distress and fever were gradually improved after anti-TB medication. Congenital TB is difficult to detect because of minimal or no symptoms during pregnancy and nonspecific symptoms in neonates. Hence, clinicians should suspect the possibility of TB infection even if neonates have non-specific symptoms. Early diagnosis and meticulous treatment are required for the survival of neonates with TB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jue Seong
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Hoon
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eunji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyunwook
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Tae
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Choung
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.; Allergy and Immunology Center, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoo
keywords: Congenital tuberculosis; Miliary pattern; Neonate