Article Text
Summary
A 47-year-old Caucasian man was admitted to hospital with respiratory failure due to a severe pneumonia, requiring admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for respiratory support. Bronchial washings cultured Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a rare cause of respiratory failure, and fortunately he responded to standard antituberculous therapy. However, the patient subsequently developed symptomatic hypercalcaemia; an unusual complication of tuberculosis (TB) in the UK, probably contributed to by a combination of sunbathing and activation of 25-hydroxy vitamin D in the TB granuloma. The majority of patients treated for TB in the UK are probably vitamin D deficient and are therefore unlikely to become hypercalcaemic.
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Footnotes
Competing interests: None.
Patient consent: Patient/guardian consent was obtained for publication.