Case Report
1 Resident, Department of Internal Medicine, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
2 Hospital Assistant, Department of Internal Medicine, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
3 Senior Graduate Assistant, Department of Internal Medicine, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Internal Medicine Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, Univers, Portugal
4 Senior Graduate Assistant and Head of Department, Department of Internal Medicine, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Internal Medicine Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, Univers, Portugal
Address correspondence to:
Sara Neves Sintra
Praceta Prof. Mota Pinto, Coimbra, 3000-075,
Portugal
Message to Corresponding Author
Article ID: 101001Z01SS2019
Introduction: Abdominal tuberculosis frequently mimics other conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, sarcoidosis, advanced ovarian tumour, lymphoma, mesothelioma or carcinomatosis.
Case Report: The authors report the case of a 19-year-old woman with fever, abdominal pain and history of right pleural empyema. Laboratory findings showed anaemia, lymphopenia and positive interferon-gamma release assay. Computed tomography findings included apical lung nodules, pleural thickening, right pleural effusion and ascites. Treatment for suspected tuberculosis was started. Two months later, computed tomography showed peritoneal thickening causing liver scalloping. Fluid collection from a peritoneal fluid-filled nodule confirmed the diagnosis.
Conclusion: Visceral scalloping is a common finding of carcinomatosis and pseudomyxoma peritonei; only seven cases are reported in peritoneal tuberculosis. We emphasize the need for a high suspicion level and early sample collection.
Keywords: Ascites, Liver scalloping, Peritoneal thickening, Tuberculosis
Sara Neves Sintra - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
João Madaleno - Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Catarina Canha - Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Adélia Simão - Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Armando Carvalho - Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Guarantor of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
Copyright© 2019 Sara Neves Sintra et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.