Tuberculous peritonitis in the first trimester of pregnancy

Abstract

Tuberculous peritonitis in pregnancy is a rare form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis that is not easily diagnosed. The clinical presentations of tuberculous peritonitis are usually non-specific and mimic those of other diseases, such as ovarian malignancy or chronic liver disease, and this non-specificity can cause diagnostic delays and complications. The authors report the case of a 31-year-old primigravida woman who presented with uncontrolled fever, dyspnea, elevated liver enzymes, and mild abdominal distension at 13+2 weeks of gestation. At 14+2 weeks, a therapeutic abortion was conducted and tuberculous peritonitis was confirmed by laparoscopic excisional biopsy of peritoneal nodules and histopathologic examination. The patient recovered on antituberculosis therapy and abdomen and chest follow up radiographic findings have confirmed improvement.

Case of peritoneal tuberculosis in third trimester of pregnancy

“…1 The clinical presentations of tuberculous peritonitis are usually non-specific and mimic those of other diseases, such as ovarian malignancy or chronic liver disease, and physiological presentation of pregnancy, this non-specificity can cause diagnostic delays and complications. 2 It is estimated that the incidence of peritoneal tuberculosis among all forms of tuberculosis varies from 0.1% to 0.7% worldwide. 3 Peritoneal tuberculosis (PT) in pregnancy is uncommon because infertility is the commonest sign if tuberculosis involves the genitals and/or peritoneum.…”