Tuberculosis pleurisy due to Mycobacterium fortuitum in a patient with chronic granulocytic leukemia

A case of tuberculous pleurisy due to Mycobacterium fortuitum in a 47-year-old woman with chronic granulocytic leukemia is described. The mycobacterial aetiology of the pleurisy was confirmed by pleural biopsy and by positive culture of M. fortuitum in pleural fluid. Antituberculosis chemotherapy with INH, RMP and EMB, combined initially with prednisolone, was successful in spite of total resistance of the strain to the drugs used. A short review of mycobacterioses and of recent literature on the topic, especially on M. fortuitum, is also presented.