Disseminated tuberculosis in a pregnant woman presenting with numerous brain tuberculomas: case report

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which has the pulmonary form as the most common presentation. Dissemination of the disease is common in immunocompromised patients, but immunodeficiency related to pregnancy severe enough to cause dissemination of the Mycoba...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Emerson L. Gasparetto, Priscilla Tazoniero, Arnolfo de Carvalho Neto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Thieme Revinter Publicações 2003-09-01
Series:Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2003000500028&tlng=en
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849685278812274688
author Emerson L. Gasparetto
Priscilla Tazoniero
Arnolfo de Carvalho Neto
author_facet Emerson L. Gasparetto
Priscilla Tazoniero
Arnolfo de Carvalho Neto
author_sort Emerson L. Gasparetto
collection DOAJ
description Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which has the pulmonary form as the most common presentation. Dissemination of the disease is common in immunocompromised patients, but immunodeficiency related to pregnancy severe enough to cause dissemination of the Mycobacteria is exceedingly rare. When dissemination occurs, any organ may be affected and in central nervous system, the infection presents as meningitis and single brain parenchyma tuberculomas. We report the case of a 17 year-old woman at the 34th week of pregnancy with respiratory and high intracranial pressure symptoms. On the day before admission she had a sudden onset of paraparesis and urinary retention and ten hours after the delivery she presented with paraplegia . The chest X-ray and CT scan were compatible with miliary tuberculosis. The cranial CT scan revealed numerous rounded hypodense lesions located at cerebral and cerebellar hemispheres, which presented ring-like enhancement after contrast injection. The patient underwent a craniotomy with biopsy of the lesions confirming the diagnosis of brain tuberculomas. The three-drug regimen was started and the cranial CT scan performed a year after diagnosis showed no brain lesions. We emphasize the aggressive dissemination of the disease in this case associated with pregnancy and the importance of early diagnosis and institution of therapy resulting in regression of the lesions.
format Article
id doaj-art-c385bd79407448e58f136bfff7eabaff
institution DOAJ
issn 1678-4227
language English
publishDate 2003-09-01
publisher Thieme Revinter Publicações
record_format Article
series Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria
spelling doaj-art-c385bd79407448e58f136bfff7eabaff2025-08-20T03:23:12ZengThieme Revinter PublicaçõesArquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria1678-42272003-09-01613B85585810.1590/S0004-282X2003000500028Disseminated tuberculosis in a pregnant woman presenting with numerous brain tuberculomas: case reportEmerson L. Gasparetto0Priscilla Tazoniero1Arnolfo de Carvalho Neto2Universidade Federal do ParanáUniversidade Federal do ParanáUniversidade Federal do ParanáTuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which has the pulmonary form as the most common presentation. Dissemination of the disease is common in immunocompromised patients, but immunodeficiency related to pregnancy severe enough to cause dissemination of the Mycobacteria is exceedingly rare. When dissemination occurs, any organ may be affected and in central nervous system, the infection presents as meningitis and single brain parenchyma tuberculomas. We report the case of a 17 year-old woman at the 34th week of pregnancy with respiratory and high intracranial pressure symptoms. On the day before admission she had a sudden onset of paraparesis and urinary retention and ten hours after the delivery she presented with paraplegia . The chest X-ray and CT scan were compatible with miliary tuberculosis. The cranial CT scan revealed numerous rounded hypodense lesions located at cerebral and cerebellar hemispheres, which presented ring-like enhancement after contrast injection. The patient underwent a craniotomy with biopsy of the lesions confirming the diagnosis of brain tuberculomas. The three-drug regimen was started and the cranial CT scan performed a year after diagnosis showed no brain lesions. We emphasize the aggressive dissemination of the disease in this case associated with pregnancy and the importance of early diagnosis and institution of therapy resulting in regression of the lesions.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2003000500028&tlng=encentral nervous systemtuberculosispregnancytuberculoma
spellingShingle Emerson L. Gasparetto
Priscilla Tazoniero
Arnolfo de Carvalho Neto
Disseminated tuberculosis in a pregnant woman presenting with numerous brain tuberculomas: case report
Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria
central nervous system
tuberculosis
pregnancy
tuberculoma
title Disseminated tuberculosis in a pregnant woman presenting with numerous brain tuberculomas: case report
title_full Disseminated tuberculosis in a pregnant woman presenting with numerous brain tuberculomas: case report
title_fullStr Disseminated tuberculosis in a pregnant woman presenting with numerous brain tuberculomas: case report
title_full_unstemmed Disseminated tuberculosis in a pregnant woman presenting with numerous brain tuberculomas: case report
title_short Disseminated tuberculosis in a pregnant woman presenting with numerous brain tuberculomas: case report
title_sort disseminated tuberculosis in a pregnant woman presenting with numerous brain tuberculomas case report
topic central nervous system
tuberculosis
pregnancy
tuberculoma
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2003000500028&tlng=en
work_keys_str_mv AT emersonlgasparetto disseminatedtuberculosisinapregnantwomanpresentingwithnumerousbraintuberculomascasereport
AT priscillatazoniero disseminatedtuberculosisinapregnantwomanpresentingwithnumerousbraintuberculomascasereport
AT arnolfodecarvalhoneto disseminatedtuberculosisinapregnantwomanpresentingwithnumerousbraintuberculomascasereport