Primary peritoneal tuberculosis, a forgotten localization. Case report

Abstract

We present a case report of a young nulliparous woman that presented with progressive ascites, night sweats and weight loss. Clinical and para-clinical findings were not suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) or other peritoneal conditions. A laparoscopy revealed important ascites and granulomatous peritoneal infiltration with normal genital anatomy. Tests for tuberculosis revealed primary peritoneal involvement in absence of pulmonary TB. This was a case of TB with primary and limited localization in the peritoneum. A strength of this report is that it has adequate illustration of the macroscopic and microscopic findings. In this brief report, we argue that the peritoneal localization of TB has been forgotten, but in countries with a high incidence of this condition, it should always be taken into consideration by doctors from all specialities when making differential diagnosis.

Keywords: Biopsy; Laparoscopy; Peritoneal tuberculosis; Tuberculous caseous granuloma.