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Miliary Tuberculosis

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Tuberculosis

Abstract

The terms “miliary tuberculosis” and “lym-phohematogenous dissemination of tuberculosis” are used commonly, but sometimes with less than precise meaning. In this chapter, miliary tuberculosis defines the presence of innumerable, tiny, discrete tuberculous lesions in the lungs and other organs owing to the seeding of these tissues by blood-borne tubercle bacilli. The word “miliary” was used originally to denote the small size of such lesions, generally less than 2 mm in diameter, or approximately the size of millet seeds. “Hematogenous dissemination” reflects bacillemia due to tubercle bacilli regardless of the mode of entry into the bloodstream. “Lymphohematogenous dissemination” designates the entry of tubercle bacilli, usually from a parenchymal pulmonary focus, into the lymphatics, lymph nodes, and ducts, with ultimate drainage into the bloodstream producing bacillemia.

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Authors
  1. H. William Harris
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  2. Stephen Menitove
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical College of Pennsylvania, USA

    David Schlossberg M.D., F.A.C.P. (Professor of Medicine and Director) (Professor of Medicine and Director)

  2. Department of Medicine, Episcopal Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, 19125-1098, USA

    David Schlossberg M.D., F.A.C.P. (Professor of Medicine and Director) (Professor of Medicine and Director)

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© 1994 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.

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Harris, H.W., Menitove, S. (1994). Miliary Tuberculosis. In: Schlossberg, D. (eds) Tuberculosis. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8321-5_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8321-5_21

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-8323-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-8321-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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