Miliary tuberculosis following intravesical Bacillus Calmette and Guérin therapy: A rare complication of a frequent procedure

Abstract

The standard treatment for superficial vesical tumors is transurethral resection (TUR) followed by intravesical instillation of Bacillus Calmette and Guérin (BCG). Pulmonary complications of BCG-therapy are rare but could be life threatening. We report the case of a 54-year-old patient who received BCG-therapy after TUR. After the sixth session of BCG instillations, the patient was diagnosed with a miliary tuberculosis secondary to BCG-therapy. We observed a progressive clinical and radiological improvement under specific tuberculosis treatment. Early diagnosis of pulmonary side effects of BCG-therapy and prompt treatment are the keys to complete recovery and survival.

Keywords

• Miliary pulmonary tuberculosis
• Mycobacterium bovis
• Intravesical BCG
• Bladder cancer