Antinuclear antibody positive pleural effusion in a patient with tuberculosis.

A patient with tuberculosis presented with a pleural effusion that was highly positive for antinuclear antibody (ANA). The pleural fluid autoimmune profile was positive for ANA IgG at a titre of 1 : 1280. Antibodies to double-stranded DNA were not detected in the pleural fluid or in serum. The serum autoimmune profile was positive for ANA IgG at 1 : 160 and IgM at 1 : 40. Pleural fluid was positive on culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis after 8 weeks. Pleural biopsy for histology showed chronic inflammation and culture revealed no growth. The pleural fluid resolved with the anti-tuberculous treatment, and signs and symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus or malignancy did not occur, which suggests that tuberculous pleural effusion is one of the causes of high ANA in pleural fluid.