Intraperitoneal tuberculous abscess: Computed tomography features

Table 1 Clinical findings of 8 patients with intraperitoneal tuberculous abscess

Case	Age (yr)	Sex	Clinical symptoms	Pulmonary TB	Surgery
1	58	Female	Weight loss, low grade fever and night sweats for 5 mo Persistent right upper quadrant pain for 10 d, accompanied by loss of appetite. Right lower quadrant pain and fullness for 1 mo with a clinically palpable abdominal mass	Hematogenous pulmonary TB	Laparoscopy
2	35	Male	Weight loss, low grade fever, night sweats and obscure abdominal pain for 5 mo with a clinically palpable abdominal mass	-	Laparotomy
3	24	Male	Obscure abdominal pain and low grade fever for 2 mo	-	Laparotomy
4	40	Female	Weight loss, low grade fever, night sweats and obscure abdominal pain for 4 mo, with a clinically palpable abdominal mass	Obsolete pulmonary TB	Laparoscopy
5	27	Female	Obscure abdominal pain and low grade fever for 2 mo with a clinically palpable abdominal mass	-	Biopsy
6	22	Female	Obscure abdominal pain and low grade fever for 2 mo with a clinically palpable abdominal mass	Obsolete pulmonary TB	Biopsy
7	37	Female	Weight loss, low grade fever, night sweats, and obscure abdominal pain for 5 mo with a clinically palpable abdominal mass	Obsolete pulmonary TB	Biopsy
8	34	Female	Weight loss, low grade fever, night sweats, and obscure abdominal pain for 5 mo	Obsolete pulmonary TB	Biopsy

TB: Tuberculosis.

Table 2 Computed tomography findings of intraperitoneal tuberculous abscess in 8 patients

Case	Location, size (cm), shape and margin of the abscess	Location of the enlarged lymph nodeand its size (cm)	Number of rim-enhanced lymph nodes
1	(1) Subphrenic space, 3 × 3.5 × 7.2, irregular shape, the margin was poorly defined (2) Perihepatic space, 5 × 8.9 × 12.2, irregular shape, the margin was poorly defined with adhesion to the gastric wall and gallbladder (3) Lower abdominal cavity, 4.5 × 5.8 × 7.1, irregular shape, the margin was well defined	Pericardial region and para-aortic region; the largest lymph node was < 1	Small number
2	Middle-lower abdominal cavity, 6.5 × 6.8 × 7.6, irregular shape, the margin was well defined encasing the mesenteric vessels	Mesenteric root and beside the abscess; the largest lymph node was < 1	Small number
3	Peripancreatic region, 3.7 × 4.1 × 4.5, regular shape, the regional margin of the abscess was poorly defined	Peripancreatic and portacaval space; the largest lymph node was 2.7 × 1.8	Multiple
4	(1) Lower abdominal cavity, 5.1 × 6.0 × 6.2, irregular shape, the regional margin was poorly defined (2) Lower abdominal cavity, 2.1 × 3.8 × 5.5, irregular shape, the margin was well defined	Lymph nodes clustered in the mesenteric root; the largest lymph node was < 1	Small number
5	Peripancreatic region, 3.1 × 3.8 × 5.1, regular shape, the regional margin was poorly defined	Peripancreatic region and the hepatogastric ligament; the largest lymph node was 2.5 × 1.7	Multiple
6	Beside the jejunum, 2.5 × 4.2 × 5.0, regular shape, the regional margin was poorly defined encasing the mesenteric vessels	Peripancreatic region and the hepatogastric ligament; the largest lymph node was 2.3 × 1.5	Multiple
7	Beside the ileum, 3.2 × 4.0 × 5.1, regular shape; the regional margin was poorly defined encasing the mesenteric vessels	Para-aortic region and mesentery; the largest lymph node was 0.8 × 1.3	Small number
8	Peripancreatic region, 3.2 × 3.9 × 5.2, regular shape, the regional margin was poorly defined	Hepatoduodenal ligament, peripancreatic region and mesentery; the largest lymph node was 1.7 × 1.9	Multiple

CT: Computed tomography; IPTA: Intraperitoneal tuberculous abscess.

Table 3 Computed tomography findings of other tuberculous lesions

Case	Peritoneum	Ascites	Other TB sites
1	Irregular or nodular thickening of the diaphragmatic and perihepatic peritoneum with homogeneous enhancement; nodular omentum	Small amount	Liver TB; adjacent cecal wall is thickened
2	Mesenteric thickening with increasing density of the adjacent mesentery; crowded mesenteric vascular bundles and thickened fiber strands in the mesentery	-	-
3	Increasing density in the hepatoduodenal ligament	-	-
4	Mesenteric thickening with increasing density of the adjacent mesentery. Crowded mesenteric vascular bundles and thickened fiber strands in the mesentery	Small amount	Wall of the terminal ileum and ileocecal junction was thickened
5	Increasing density in the hepatoduodenal ligament	-	-
6	Mesenteric thickening with increasing density of the adjacent mesentery	-	Splenic and ovarian involvement
7	Mesenteric thickening with increasing density of the adjacent mesentery and caked omentum. Smooth uniform thickened peritoneum with homogeneous enhancement	Large number	-
8	Mesenteric thickening with increasing density of the adjacent mesentery; multiple nodular shadows in the mesentery; nodular omentum; irregular or nodular thickening of the peritoneum with homogeneous enhancement	Large number	Wall of the terminal ileum was thickened