[A case of tuberculous pyothorax after an interval of four years of finishing with the first treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis].

We reported a case of tuberculous pyothorax which developed at four years after finishing with the first treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis. A 50-year-old female was admitted to our hospital with right chest pain. Tuberculous pyothorax was diagnosed by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR method) of pleural effusion and of histological findings of the pleural section. She was cured by operation, pleural drainage and anti-tuberculous drugs. The bone scincigram of 99mTc revealed accumulation in the right 9th rib, tuberculous empyema might have been a secondary development from osteomyelitis.