A paradoxical reaction during antituberculosis therapy for congenital tuberculosis.

A paradoxical tuberculosis (TB) reaction is defined as the clinical or radiological worsening of pre-existing TB lesions or the development of new lesions during treatment. We treated a case of such a paradoxical reaction in a 21-day-old female infant who was diagnosed with congenital TB and was being treated with antituberculous drugs. The paradoxical reaction improved after additional treatment with corticosteroids. Therefore, corticosteroids might be useful to control paradoxical reactions in patients with congenital tuberculosis.