Pericardial abscess

Case contributed by Stanislaw Osuch
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Immunocompromised patient with confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis presenting with an acute fever, chest pain and abdominal pain.

Patient Data

Age: 50 years
Gender: Male
ct

Thick-walled, ring-enhancing cystic mass in the right atrioventricular groove with mass effect on the adjacent right ventricle and atrium with an associated, small pericardial effusion.

Multiple, small, low attenuating splenic lesions with multiple, para-aortic lymph nodes.

Bilateral pleural effusions.

Photo

Sputum GeneXpert findings confirming pulmonary tuberculosis.

Case Discussion

Splenic microabscess in a patient with confirmed mycobacterium tuberculosis (sputum genexpert) is highly indicative of disseminated abdominal tuberculosis 1.

Pericardial abscesses are a rare complication of chronic pericarditis and usually occur in the right atrioventricular groove as in this case 2. The pathogen has not been isolated, however, with confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis and evidence of abdominal spread, mycobacterium tuberculosis remains the likely cause of the abscess.

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