Abstract:

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of pregnant tuberculous pleurisy patients. Methods We analyzed the retrospective clinical data from 35 cases with pregnancy complicated with tuberculous pleurisy admitted in the Tuberculosis Research Institute of the 8th Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital during March 2011 to December 2018. Patients were 20-41 years old,average age was 27.60±5.45 years. 6 cases (17.1%) were during their early pregnancy,16 cases (45.7%) in mid-pregnancy, 12 cases (34.3%) in late pregnancy and 1 case (2.9%) in puerperium. Results Of 35 patients,13 definite cases were confirmed by histopathological examination with samples collected with ultrasound-guided pleural biopsy,22 cases were clinically diagnosed according to the clinical diagnostic criteria of tuberculous pleurisy. Fever occurred in 82.9% (29/35) of cases, dyspnea and cough accounted for 77.1% (27/35) and 57.1% (20/35) respectively. Among them,5 cases suffered early artificial abortion, 1 case got spontaneous abortion, 13 cases got induction of labor in mid-pregnancy,15 cases continued pregnancy until delivery (3 cases in mid-pregnancy and all 12 cases in late pregnancy), 1 case occurred in puerous period. All patients were treated with anti-tuberculosis drugs after the diagnosis was confirmed, then their clinical symptoms disappeared and pleural effusion were absorbed with no deaths. Patients were followed up for 6 to 55 months and no relapse cases were detected. One of the 16 newborns was premature with low birth weight,the other 15 were healthy term infants, no birth defects were found. The newborns were followed up for 7 to 55 months, no abnormality of growth or development, or tuberculosis were observed. Conclusion Pregnant tuberculous pleurisy patients are mainly diagnosed clinically. The anti-tuberculosis treatment is effective and no adverse effects on fetuses are found.

Key words: Pregnancy complications, infectious, Tuberculosis, pleural, Pleural effusion, Treatment outcome