Journal on Biomedical Sciences

Ascitic Type of Abdominal Tuberculosis in a 40 Year Old Female | Disseminated tuberculosis can cause a lot of damage to an individual if there is no early diagnosis. In Africa, about 70% of patients with abdominal tuberculosis present with ascites and most of these cases are missed diagnostic cases. The case in question is of a 40 year old women from one of the rural areas of Zimbabwe who had previously presented with severe coughing but had denied sweating at night and the sputum results were negative on screening. After 2 weeks she presented again at the clinic with a swollen abdomen and the X-ray showed flooding of the lungs and difficulty in breathing. Disseminated tuberculosis can cause a lot of damage to an individual if there is no early diagnosis. In Africa, about 70% of patients with abdominal tuberculosis present with ascites and most of these cases are missed diagnostic cases [1,2]. The patient presents with a swollen abdomen containing many litres of strawcoloured fluid. The fluid accumulates as the result of large numbers of miliary tubercles on the peritoneum. The only certain way to make the diagnosis is to do a minilaparotomy (‘’minilap’), which will also enable you to diagnose cirrhosis, peri portal fibrosis (due to Schistosomiasis mansoni), carcinomatosis of the peritoneum and hepatoma (usually with cirrhosis). Experts can usually diagnose miliary tuberculosis with their naked eyes; but even they can be wrong, so take a biopsy of his parietal peritoneum and/or his liver. [3] The case in question is 40year old women from one of the rural areas of Zimbabwe who had previously presented with severe coughing but had denied sweating at night and the sputum results were negative on screening. For More Articles: Scientific Research Articles on Biomedical : https://biomedres.us/