Bilateral tuberculous pleurisy with subsequent upper lobe predominant pulmonary fibrosis mimicking pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis

Abstract

Although the majority of patients with Mycobacterium tuberculosis have pulmonary involvement, some cases have pleural involvement as extra-pulmonary sites of infection. We herein report a case of upper lobe-predominant pulmonary fibrosis that developed in a 47-year-old male with a history of bilateral tuberculous pleurisy. Based on his chest radiological findings, pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (PPFE) was most strongly suspected, and a surgical lung biopsy (SLB) was performed to obtain a pathological diagnosis. The SLB specimens showed interstitial pneumonia with pleural involvement without any characteristic findings of PPFE. Careful discretion in obtaining a precise diagnosis of this condition should be practiced in such cases.