MRI as indicator of pulmonary tuberculosis activity: from morphological to molecular level assessment - a case report.

We present the case of an adult patient with active post-primary pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and discuss specific morphological and textural aspects found at high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lung. The 42-year-old man, heavy smoker, undertook a routine employment medical examination and was admitted to a referral pulmonology and TB center due to the abnormal findings seen on his chest radiography. The patient presented nonspecific symptoms, bilateral bronchial breath at pulmonary auscultation, inflammatory syndrome on the laboratory blood tests and positive sputum smears for acid-fast bacilli, which together with the typical aspect on the chest radiography lead to a diagnosis of post-primary pulmonary TB and administration of specific medication.