Pleural tuberculosis is a condition present in more than 30% of patients with tuberculosis, in fact it is a rather common initial presentation. Pleural tuberculosis diagnostic is often difficult by direct confirmation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in cultures and stains, it has lead the development of new criteria and interventions focused in the improvement of the sensibility diagnostic methods. We describe a patient with unilateral pleural effusion who met the criteria of this clinical condition.

tuberculosis; pleural tuberculosis; adenosin deaminase