Chest X-ray Showed Area Of Pleural Thickening. History Of TB. Sign Of Resurfacing TB?

Posted on Fri, 26 Apr 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 Answered on

Tue, 21 May 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Hello, about 14 months ago I developed pneumonia and pleurisy (pleural effusion) about 6 weeks after giving birth. I was bed ridden for two months. (I was very ill) I have experienced symptoms over the last year so went for a chest x XXXXXXX and they found an area of pleural thickening. could the pneumonia and pleurisy have been caused by tb? I'm 35 years old but when I was in my early 20's I worked in a hospital lab and when I had the tb test it came back positive even though I never had the BCG vaccination. Could tb have become active during time of weakness and caused the pneumonia,pleural effusion and pleural thickening? I'm currently awaiting investigation from a rheumatologist and pulmonologistand and a ct scan. Also experiencing fatigue and joint pains. Thanks

Answered by Dr. Hema Yadav (42 minutes later)

Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
Yes , Tb is a common cause of pulmonary pathology like pneumonitis , pleuritis causing effusion / thickening especially if the symptoms are long standing and associated with generalised weakness , weightloss or fever etc.However if you have had a severe pneumonitis in past that itself could lead to pleural changes . Also some rheumatic or autoimmune illnesses can cause similar symptoms.
If the mantoux test is strongly positive , Esr is raised,X-ray chest and other investigations are suggestive then there is a possibility of such infection ( Tb).
However it cannot be confirmed without full evaluation and investigation .
You have rightly got yourself evaluated thoroughly and I'm sure once your reports are known the diagnosis would be confirmed by your doctors .
Hope I have answered your query .
Please feel free to ask any further queries.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar