What is Miliary Tuberculosis - Things You Should Know

Miliary Tuberculosis

Miliary tuberculosis, or miliary TB, refers to the widespread distribution of the bacteria known to cause tuberculosis. This bacteria, the Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is spread through hematogenous means with miliary TB.

Typically, a patient suffering from miliary TB will have the appearance of small, milletlike tuberculosis bacteria in their lungs. These milletlike bacteria are only visible through a chest x-ray or radiography.

The way miliary TB occurs varies based on each case. However, more than 90 percent of cases have a severe impact on multiple organs in the body, even reaching the brain. A small number of cases only impact one organ, which is usually the lungs.

The problem with miliary TB occurs if the bacteria are allowed to spread in the body without a proper diagnosis. The earlier you catch miliary TB in someone, the better their chances of recovery.

Around one quarter of people who are diagnosed with miliary TB also report some form of meningeal involvement.

Another issue with miliary TB is that its symptoms often appear similar to a number of other diseases, which complicates the diagnosis. These diagnosis problems are most apparent in low income countries.

Even if a patient has the possibility of miliary TB in their body, doctors often recommend that they begin treatment. This urgency of starting treatment before a definitive test result stems from the fact that treatment is far more successful if it is started early.

If someone already has the spread of miliary TB lesions in different parts of their body, it is much more complicated, if not impossible, to help them fully recover.

Miliary Tuberculosis Symptoms

Symptoms for miliary tuberculosis are varied, with different patients showing varied issues. The intensity of symptoms also varies, which adds to the issues in diagnosing miliary TB.

These symptoms often progress over a few days, weeks or months:

• Weakness and fatigue over a period of time. If someone is tired for weeks at a time, it is crucial that they see a doctor regarding the possibility of them having miliary TB.

• Significant weight loss that is not the result of a concentrated effort to lose that weight.

• Constant headaches. Unlike the above symptoms, headaches are only common in around 10 percent of miliary TB cases.

Some other signs of miliary TB are:

• A low but consistent fever. This is true in around 20 percent of cases.

• High fever for up to a week, which manifests in around 80 percent of patients.

• Coughing is common among more than half of miliary TB patients.

• Other conditions such as generalized lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly and pancreatitis. Dysfunction in multiple organs is also a possible indication of miliary TB, as is adrenal insufficiency.

Learn More: Signs and Symptoms of Tuberculosis

Miliary Tuberculosis Treatment

There are a number of treatment options for patients who find themselves diagnosed with miliary TB. Some of these treatments may last for up to 12 months, especially if there is a meningeal element to the condition.

If a patient is treated early on and before the disease spreads all over their body, it significantly lowers the risk of death and improves the chances of a full recovery. Surgery is very rarely an option with miliary TB.

Due to the complex nature of this condition, a number of specialists are often involved with determining the diagnosis and its eventual treatment.

For example:

• Specialists who deal with pulmonary care and critical care.

• Infectious disease doctors.

• Neurologists who can provide steroid treatments for dealing with the meningitis part of the condition.

• Tuberculosis experts. This is crucial to get the best treatment that ensures the condition never returns.

• Occasionally officials from the local department of health are notified.

• Infection control might be necessary depending on where the patient lived and worked.

Patients who suffer from tuberculosis of the miliary kind are also advised to watch their diet carefully. Because of the loss of appetite or stomach problems associated with TB, malnutrition is a serious possibility.

Doctors often spend the first few weeks giving the patient intensive therapy and treatment. After these week pass, they attempt to check whether the patient is responding to the treatment and whether the condition is subsiding. Patients are often removed from isolation after a few weeks if they are deemed no longer contagious.

However, doctors are very cautious about this step and often wait a few extra days before allowing a patient to move to the general hospital wings or back home. If a patient’s lymph nodes experience significant enlargement, steroid therapy might be necessary.

Even if the condition is completely cured and the TB is no longer present in the body, it is important for continual therapy to ensure it never comes back again. Sometimes if patients stop therapy, the condition returns but in an even deadlier form.

Since treatment of this condition is so complicated, it is best to take preventative measures to ensure you never get the disease in the first place. The best measure you can take is to wear an antibacterial facemask around anyone you think could have tuberculosis. If you are spending time outdoors in crowded areas, you should always wear your facemask there. These masks help prevent the condition from getting to you through airborne means.

Read More: What is the Treatment for Tuberculosis – Benefit from Specialized Assistance

What is Tuberculosis?

With all this discussion on miliary tuberculosis, it is important to look at the disease in general. Tuberculosis occurs when a person contracts the specific TB bacteria as a result of spending time with another individual who is showing symptoms of the disease.

These germs pass through the air and can go into another person who is inhaling that air in the room.

However, tuberculosis is not a condition that activates among most people. According to the World Health Organization, around one in three people in the whole world have tuberculosis as a latent condition.

Only around 10 percent of these people will ever show symptoms, with people over 65 most likely to get sick.

There are a number of different kinds of tuberculosis, with miliary TB being one of them. TB symptoms often start as a cough, fever and prolonged periods of fatigue. The spread of this disease occurs most often when individuals do not get an early diagnosis or treatment.

They might think they have a really bad case of the flu, which results in them seeking home therapies. Staying home can cause them to potentially infect their family members, co-workers and/or neighbors.

Further Reading:

• What is Tuberculosis

• What is Latent Tuberculosis

• Challenges in the diagnosis & treatment of miliary tuberculosis