Pediatric pleural tuberculosis

Background Pleural tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis is sometimes controversial because the microbiologic confirmation ratio is very low in pleural fluid. There are few pediatric pleural TB case series in the literature. Methods We retrospectively evaluated our TB cases below 18 years of age and extracted pleural TB cases. Results Seven cases with pleural TB were identified. About 42.9% of the patients had isolated pleural TB whereas 57.1% of the patients had accompanying pulmonary TB. Lymphocytic pleural effusion and increased adenosine deaminase (ADA) (>40 U/L) level are found in 85.7% of the patients. Six patients had uncomplicated effusion (transudate) according to Light's criteria and one had complicated effusion (exudate). Lung decortication was needed in three patients. All patients were given 6 months anti-TB medication and recovered completely. Conclusion In the lymphocyte-predominant pleural effusion, an increased ADA level highly supported TB disease. The complicated effusion (exudate) in pleural TB is not rule; uncomplicated effusion (transudate) could be seen.