Rhabdomyolysis Associated With Pleural Tuberculosis

Abstract

To the Editor. —Rhabdomyolysis associated with infectious diseases, although uncommon, is now being increasingly recognized.1-7We report a case of rhabdomyolysis in a patient with tuberculosis. To the best of our knowledge, this association has not been previously reported. Report of a Case. —A 27-year-old man was in good health until one month prior to admission, when he started to experience malaise, anorexia, and an 8-kg weight loss. Three weeks later he developed a cough, right-sided pleuritic chest pain, and fever associated with myalgia, muscular weakness, and emission of dark-brown urine. Family history was negative for known inherited muscle disease. He denied any use of alcohol or tobacco, drug abuse, recent trauma, or strenuous exercise. On admission his temperature was 38.8°C. A right-sided pleural effusion and generalized proximal muscle tenderness were observed. Results of laboratory studies disclosed the following values: hematocrit, 40% (0.40), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, 74 mm/h.