Mycobacterium Flashcards
What’s in a differential for chronic cough?
post-nasal drip (allergies, sinusitis), asthma, bronchitis, GERD, heart failure, meds (ACE inhibitors)
What is the greatest risk factor for reactivating latent TB?
HIV infection
What population accounts for the increased proportion of TB cases?
foreign-born ppl particularly from Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, India, China
What are the four possible outcomes after inhalation of TB?
Immediate clearance of the organism. Chronic or latent infection. Rapidly progressive disease (or primary disease). Active disease many years after the infection (reactivation disease)
What is the pathogenesis of primary TB?
Small bacilli carried in droplets reach the alveolar space. Bacilli proliferate inside alveolar macrophages and kill the cells. Infected macrophages produce cytokines that attract other phagocytic cells, which eventually form a nodular granulomatous structure called the tubercle
What happens if the bacterial replication of TB isn’t controlled?
the tubercle enlarges and the bacilli enter the local lymph nodes leading to lymphadenopathy, Caseation/fibrosis/calcification
What is the Ghon complex?
an inflammatory nodule in the pulmonary parenchyma (Gohn focus) with an accompanying hilar adenopathy, in line with lymphatic drainage
What is the criteria for primary TB?
Those who develop active disease within the first two to three years after infection.
What are the symptoms of primary TB?
appetite loss, fatigue, chest pain, hemoptysis, productive chronic cough, night sweats, pallor
What is a rasmussen aneurysm?
pulmonary artery aneurysm adjacent or within a tuberculous cavity. sudden onset of massive hemoptysis
How does secondary reactivation of TB differ from primary disease?
the disease process in reactivation TB tends to be localized; there is little regional lymph node involvement and the lesion typically occurs at the lung apices
What is the clinical presentation of secondary/reactivation of TB?
Cough, hemoptysis, Persistent fever/night sweats, Weight loss, Malaise, supraclavicular Adenopathy, Pleuritic chest pain
What is miliary TB?
bacilli spread to produce disseminated TB. the involved lung surface is covered with firm small white nodules that look like millet seeds. miliary TB is used to denote ALL forms of progressive, widely disseminated tuberculosis
What is the clinical presentation of miliary TB?
Acute- High fevers, Night sweats, Occ. Resp distress, septic shock, multiorgan failure, tend to be young. Chronic-Fever, Anorexia, Weight loss, tend to be elderly
What are the extrapulmonary manifestations of TB?
CNS- meningitis, intracranial tuberculoma. Lymph- scrofula of the neck. Pleura- TB pleurisy. Skeletal- Pott’s disease (vertebrae collapse). Genitourinary- testicular granuloma, renal TB
What is the tuberculin skin test?
screening test. most sensitive for diagnosis w/mycobacterium tb. doesn’t prove the presence of active disease but does indicate infection has occured.
What is the technique of a tuberculin skin testing?
MUST be done intradermally and form a visible wheal. (subQ administration will result in a false-negative test)
How is a tuberculin skin test read?
read at 48-72 hours (reaction is from delayed type hypersensitivity response mediated by T lymphocytes). Test is read by the diameter of the induration