A Healthy Young Woman with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: an unfamiliar face of a familiar disease

Abstract

The presented case features a rare manifestation of pulmonary tuberculosis in a previously healthy young woman who had acute presentation of tuberculous pneumonia complicated by acute respiratory distress syndrome. In developing countries, mycobacterium tuberculosis is an important cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). TB can present as an acute process and should be included in the differential diagnosis of CAP. This case is special in its manifestation from several clinical perspectives, including the lack of an underlying medical condition or immune defect and the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in non-miliary and non-disseminated tuberculosis. In conclusion, the diagnosis of TB should be considered in all patients who present with CAP in endemic regions.