Haemoptisis and pulmonary tuberculosis in an infant. A propos of one case

Abstract

The incidence of tuberculosis in Castilla y Leon is important, with a rate of 32.9/100.000 inhabitants/year in 1988. The appearance of haemoptisis, blood from low respiratory ways, is infrequent in children; their presence need to rule out an extrapulmonary haemorrhage, from the alimentary tract or the high respiratory ways. We report an infant who suffered varicella when was 2 months old; then showed a clinical picture of intermittent subacute gastroenteritis, anorexia, irritability, pallidnes, fever, loss of weight and haemorrhage through the nose, diagnosed as epistaxis. During a later control, exploring the pharinx we saw the spontaneous presence of foamy and red blood, that disappeared at once. Thorax X-ray was done, showing a neumonic and round density, clearly shaped that seemed a tuberculosis. The Mantoux test was positive, 10 mm, but the bacteriology was negative. The patient have a good evolution with antituberculosis treatment.