[Mycobacteria tuberculosis bacteremia].

Mycobacterial bacteremia is common in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and mycobacterium avium-intracellulare is isolated most frequently. Although bacteremia due to mycobacterium tuberculosis was described as early as 1917, there are few recent reports regarding this phenomenon. However, mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is relative rare in those developed countries as compared to ours. It is estimated about 12,000 newly diagnosed tuberculous patients in Taiwan area every year. This study was designed to see the incidence of TB bacteremia and the possible relationship between TB bacteremia and disease pattern. From January 1989 to June 1990, we used lysis-centrifugation blood culture system to detect the incidence of mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteremia. 27 cases of newly diagnosed tuberculous patients were included, all proved by chest X ray, bacteriology and/or pathology. These 27 cases included 3 miliary T.B, 13 far-advanced pulmonary T.B., 7 moderate advanced pulmonary T.B., 1 minimal pulmonary T.B., 1 T.B. pericarditis and 3 T.B. pleuritis. Only one miliary T.B. yield bacteremia.