A case report of mucocutaneous tuberculosis after orthotopic liver transplantation: a challenging diagnosis

Cutaneous Tuberculosis in Heart Transplant

Tuberculosis is a disease with a significant global burden in terms of morbidity and mortality. It usually presents as a pulmonary disease but can occasionally have extrapulmonary presentations. Immunosuppressed people are at an increased risk of tuberculosis and more frequently have atypical manifestations of the disease. Cutaneous involvement is estimated to occur in only 2% of extrapulmonary presentations. We report a case of a heart transplant recipient with disseminated tuberculosis who initially presented with cutaneous manifestations in the form of multiple abscesses that were mistaken for a community-acquired bacterial infection. The diagnosis was made after positive nucleic acid amplification testing and cultures for Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the drainage of the abscesses. After initiating antituberculous treatment, the patient had 2 instances of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. A combination of diminished immunosuppression due to discontinuation of mycophenolate mofetil in the setting of acute infection, rifampin drug interactions with cyclosporine, and the beginning of treatment of tuberculosis all contributed to this paradoxical worsening. The patient responded favorably to increased glucocorticoid therapy and showed no signs of treatment failure after 6 months of antituberculous therapy.

Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Induced Hepatotoxicity and Associated Factors among Tuberculosis Patients at Selected Hospitals, Ethiopia

Background

Tuberculosis caused by susceptible mycobacterium tuberculosis strains is effectively treated by the first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs. However, most antibacterial drugs are known to induce hepatotoxicity which may limit their adherence and hence lead to the development of mycobacterial drug resistance.

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of anti-tuberculosis drug induced hepatotoxicity and associated factors among tuberculosis patients of Debre Markos, Mota, and Bichena Hospitals.

Methods

The prospective cross sectional-study was conducted in three hospitals of East Gojjam zone by taking blood samples of new tuberculosis patients every 2 weeks for 2 months to measure the elevation of liver proteins indicating liver toxicity from the onset of starting therapy. A semi-structured questionnaire was also used to collect the socio-demographic data and factors of anti-tubeculosis drug induced liver toxicity. To identify factors associated with drug induced hepatotoxicity, binary logistic regression followed by multivariate analysis was applied at a statistically significant level of P<0.05.

Results

The incidence of hepatotoxicity among tuberculosis patients is 7.9%. Diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, having comorbid disease, and old age are significantly associated (P<0.05) with first-line antituberculosis drugs induced hepatotoxicity.

Conclusion

The incidence of hepatotoxicity is relatively high among tuberculosis patients taking first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs. Therefore, the liver function of patients with old age, comorbid diseases, and extrapulmonary tuberculosis should be regularly monitored to reduce the severity of drug-induced hepatotoxicity.

A rare case of multi-focal human TB after BCG instillation for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer

OBJECTIVE

To describe a left epididymitis and para-aortical involvement caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis hominis reactivation after bacillus Calmette-Guérin instillation for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

PATIENT AND METHODS

A Caucasian male, aged 76 years, exposed to bacillus Calmette-Guérin for a high-grade non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer in 2015, reported painful and progressive left scrotal swelling with purulent discharge from a cutaneous fistulous track that yielded, on liquid culture, a pan-susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis hominis strain. Moreover, after 6 months of anti-tuberculosis treatment, an abdominal peri-aortic mass, sized 4 cm, was found and a surgical biopsy showed necrotizing granulomas; however, although smear microscopy and Xpert MTB/Rif™ performed on fresh biopsy sample were positive, liquid cultures resulted negative, indicating treatment efficacy.

RESULTS

Numerous peculiar and multi-organ involvement due to BCGitis after intravesical immunotherapy have been previously described, including 17 scientific articles about epididymitis, however, no reports so far showed reactivation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis hominis after bacillus Calmette-Guérin treatment.

CONCLUSION

Although BCGitis is more prevalent in patients undergoing bacillus Calmette-Guérin instillation for non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, tuberculosis by other species of Mycobacterium tuberculosis should be always ruled out by molecular and conventional microbiology in patients with a history of Mycobacterium tuberculosis hominis exposure.