Multidrug resistant tuberculosis diagnosed by synovial fluid analysis [Tuberculose multirresistente diagnosticada através de análise de líquido sinovial]

Tuberculosis remains a major public health problem worldwide. hiv co-infection is contributing to an increased incidence of the disease,particularly that caused by multidrug resistant strains of mycobacterium tuberculosis (mt). we describe an hiv-infected patient with pleural and lymph node tuberculosis diagnosed by pleural effusion characteristics and biopsy specimens,without mt identification,that further presented with knee-joint involvement. arthrocentesis allowed mt isolation and drug susceptibility testing,resulting in a diagnosis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and an appropriate treatment regimen.mt identification and drug susceptibility tests are very important,especially for hiv co-infected patients. © 2011 sociedade portuguesa de pneumologia.