Tuberculosis of the breast as a presenting manifestation of AIDS

Tuberculous infections of the breast are considered rare in the developed world. We describe a case of mammary tuberculosis in a woman who was not initially known to be seropositive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and who was thought to have a pyogenic breast abscess. This uncommon presentation of extrapulmonary tuberculosis as an AIDS-defining condition highlights the necessity for performing mycobacterial smears and cultures in such cases when patients are at risk for HIV infection.