Acute tuberculosis.

Both primary and reactivation tuberculosis may present as an acute process and mimic community-acquired pneumonia. Tuberculosis should always be included in the initial differential diagnosis, and suspicion should be heightened by a variety of clinical and epidemiologic clues, as well as by multiple underlying conditions. This article reviews the pathophysiology, risk factors, and clinical manifestations of acute presentations of tuberculosis. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.