Biopsy-documented tuberculous pleural effusion in a patient with biopsy-proven coexisting sarcoidosis.

One year after treatment with corticosteroids for sarcoidosis, a patient presented with biopsy-documented tuberculous pleural effusion while characteristic histopathological findings of sarcoidosis coexisted in many tissues of peripheral organs. Tuberculous pleurisy developed in the presence of disseminated persistent sarcoidosis. Although the interaction of the pathophysiological mechanisms between these two entities is not clear, it is possible that the existence of one does not allow the clinical expression of the other.