This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages without signing in

Clinical features

Authoring team

These vary with respect to the different phases of tuberculosis infection (primary, post-primary, miliary). (1, 2)

Systemic features that may occur include: night sweats, lassitude, weight loss, malaise, fever, anorexia. The disease may be asymptomatic.

Local features vary with respect to the organ involved and may include:

  • lung: cough, sputum, haemoptysis, breathlessness, lobar collapse, bronchopneumonia, hoarseness
  • pleura: breathlessness, pain, effusion
  • heart/pericardium: pain, arrhythmias, cardiac failure, pericarditis
  • intestine: malabsorption, diarrhoea, obstruction
  • GU tract: haematuria, renal failure, epididymitis, salpingitis, infertility
  • adrenals: Addison's disease
  • skin: erythema nodosum, erythema induratum, lupus vulgaris
  • eyes: iritis, choroiditis, phlcytenular keratoconjunctivitis
  • bones/joints: arthritis, osteomyelitis
  • lymphatics: lymphadenopathy, cold abscesses, sinuses
  • brain: tuberculoma, meningitis

 

Reference

  • Tuberculosis. NICE Guideline (January 2016 - last updated September 2019)
  • Lewinsohn DM et al. Official American Thoracic Society/Infectious Diseases Society of America/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Clinical Practice Guidelines: Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in Adults and Children. Clin Infect Dis. 2017 Jan 15;64

 

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.