Intra-abdominal tuberculous peritonitis

We report the case of a 15-year-old boy suffering from progressive dyspnea on exertion and painful abdominal protrusion. Final diagnosis of intra-abdo minal tuberculosis (TB), including lymphadenopathy and abdominal abscess fo rmation, was made following elective laparotomy. This type of disease is a rare manifestation of imtrapulmonary tuberculosis. The imaging findings in unenhanced and contrast-enhanced MRI and laparoscopic images are presented. Differential diagnosis of abdominal abscess formation and other fungal or bacteriological infections, as well as the imaging findings of this type of lesion, are discussed. This case demonstrates that atypical manifestation of TB may remain unrecognized; thus, awareness of this kind of manifestatio n of tuberculosis may prevent patients from being subjected to inappropriat e therapies.