Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Apr 6, 2022; 10(10): 3178-3187
Published online Apr 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i10.3178
Tuberculosis-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis misdiagnosed as systemic lupus erythematosus: A case report
Wen-Ting Chen, Zhi-Cheng Liu, Meng-Shan Li, Ying Zhou, Shen-Ju Liang, Yi Yang
Wen-Ting Chen, Meng-Shan Li, Ying Zhou, Shen-Ju Liang, Yi Yang, Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Army Medical Center, Army Medical University, Chongqing 400000, China
Zhi-Cheng Liu, Southwest Hospital, Army Medical University, Chongqing 400000, China
Author contributions: Chen WT and Liu ZC contributed equally to this work; Yang Y designed the study; and Chen WT drafted the manuscript; Li MS and Zhou Y collected the patient’s clinical data; Liang SJ photographed the histopathological examination; and Liu ZC revised the manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for the publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yi Yang, PhD, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Army Medical Center, Army Medical University, No. 10 Changjiang Road, Daping, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400000, China. yangyilyx709@163.com
Received: July 12, 2021
Peer-review started: July 12, 2021
First decision: September 28, 2021
Revised: October 10, 2021
Accepted: February 22, 2022
Article in press: February 22, 2022
Published online: April 6, 2022
Processing time: 259 Days and 21 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Misdiagnosis often occurs in tuberculosis patients with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). This manuscript reports a case of tuberculosis-associated HLH misdiagnosed as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and presents a literature review. This report is intended to increase the understanding of tuberculosis-associated HLH and emphasize that for the diagnosis of SLE. Tuberculosis should be considered in patients with fever or respiratory symptoms. Antituberculous drugs are important for treating tuberculosis-associated HLH.