L'association pneumatose kystique intestinale et tuberculose pleurale : à propos d'un cas Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis in association with pleural tuberculosis: case report

Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis is a rare disease in which multiple submucosal and subserosal pneumocysts develop in various segments of the digestive tract. It is usually secondary to digestive or extradigestive diseases. The treatment is usually medical and the prognosis is generally favourable. We report a case of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis in a 42-year-old patient, who had been receiving treatment for pleural tuberculosis for four months and underwent emergency hospitalisation with abdominal symptoms suggesting surgery and a pulmonary radiography indicating bilateral pneumoperitoneum. Surgery revealed cystic pneumatosis of the small intestine without associated lesions. The postsurgery etiological assessment was nega- tive. Several associations of pathological disorders have been described in the literature. Through this observation, we here report the first case of intestinal cystic pneumatosis associated with pleural tuberculosis to be described in the literature, and we discuss the pathophysiology of this association and the modalities of diagnosis and treatment of this rare disorder.