[Tuberculosis in patients deceased of renal insufficiency in a long-term hemodialysis program]

Eight cases of tuberculosis were seen in a series of patients dying of renal insufficiency after having been subjected to a long-term haemodialysis. In 5 cases Mycobacterium tuberculosis was successfully cultivated (4 were typed as human, 1 as bovine). In 5 cases the disease affected mainly the lymph nodes, not the lungs. In 3 of these a prevalence of abscessing specific granulomas with the presence of leucocytes was noted on microscopical examination. The findings have been regarded as possibly related to an impairment of cellular (lymphocytic) immunity, presumably caused by chronic uraemia or long-term haemodialysis.