Unusual Presentation of Tuberculosis in the Lungs and Lymph Nodes

Abstract Introduction/Objective Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis mainly affecting the lungs. Despite treatment advancements, TB remains a major cause of morbidity. This report presents a patient with active pulmonary and lymph node TB. Methods/Case Report The patient is a 41-year-old male from Bangladesh admitted for worsening cough and shortness of breath. Earlier, he had a cough and right cervical lymphadenopathy with lymph node biopsy demonstrating noncaseating granuloma and a positive Quantiferon-Gold. Outpatient workup included negative sputum TB PCR with negative cultures. The patient was febrile, tachycardic, and oxygenating normally. D-dimer was 1484. CT angiography was negative for emboli and showed mediastinal and right hilar lymphadenopathy. Imaging was otherwise non-indicative of active TB. We started rifampin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol (RIPE) therapy with bronchoalveolar lavage for additional sputum sampling and excisional lymph node biopsy to rule out malignancy. Workup for autoimmune disease and sarcoidosis was negative. An acid-fast bacilli stain of the biopsy was positive, indicating active TB. The patient was discharged on RIPE with outpatient follow-up. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) NA Conclusion Histological findings of TB demonstrate caseating granulomatous lesions. Sarcoidosis can be considered in patients with hilar or mediastinal lymphadenopathy with noncaseating granulomatous lesions. However, both active and inactive TB should be considered in the differential diagnosis with biopsy results indicating noncaseating granuloma, as infected tissues can lack the central necrosis to produce caseation. Common chest radiographic findings in TB include pulmonary consolidation, hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy, disseminated miliary disease, and a normal chest radiograph. Our patient had just hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy. While a common finding in tuberculosis, this is also present in other inflammatory pathologies, emphasizing the importance of keeping a broad differential even in settings where initial biopsy and imaging results may indicate latent infection or other diagnoses. We utilized the expertise of pathologists to identify lymph nodes with active TB infection in a patient who previously had inconsistent pathological and radiological findings. Without the help of the pathologists in this case, diagnosing and treating this patient would not have been possible, showing the necessity of histopathological correlation with clinical and radiologic findings.