Case Report

Case Report: Congenital tuberculosis in a premature infant requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Children’s Hospital of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA
² Department of Pediatrics, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
³ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Critical Care Medicine, St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, Toledo, OH 43608, USA
⁴ Perfusion Services, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA

^* Corresponding author: hkquach@uabmc.edu

Received: 7 June 2022
Accepted: 9 March 2023

Abstract

Congenital tuberculosis is a rare infectious disease with less than 500 cases documented worldwide. Mortality is significant, ranging from 34 to 53%, and death without treatment is inevitable. Patients exhibit nonspecific symptoms such as fever, cough, respiratory distress, feeding intolerance, and irritability which can make appropriate diagnosis challenging in Peng et al. (2011) Pediatr Pulmonol 46(12), 1215–1224. Tuberculosis prevalence is particularly high in developing countries where access to resources can be limited in World Health Organization (2019) Global tuberculosis report 2019, Geneva. We present a 2.4-kg premature male infant with acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to congenital tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis and tuberculosis-immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome who was successfully supported with veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.