Abstract
We experienced a 6-year-old boy with tuberculous pleurisy who was diagnosed by means of QuantiFERON TB-2G (QFT).He was admitted to our hospital with prolonged fever.Chest X-ray showed massive right pleural effusion.Bacteriological examination and PCR for Mycobacterium tuberculosis of the pleural effusion and gastric aspirates could not detect any pathogen.However, we could make a diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy on the basis of the positive results of QFT. Antituberculosis treatment (2HRZ/4HR) was clinically very effective.The clinical implication of QFT is not clarified in childhood tuberculosis.It is recognized that QFT is specific to tuberculosis and the results is not influenced by BCG vaccination.We consider that the positive results of QFT is reliable for the diagnosis of tuberculosis when M.Tuberculosis cannot be identified, especially under the circumstances where BCG vaccination is popular.
