Tuberculous Pneumonitis and Lymphadenitis

Slide #13

A 26-year-old Parisian seamstress had been coughing up blood for a number of months and developed fluctuating fevers, shortness of breath and episodes of fainting. She refused medical help and was treated by a poet with patent medicines. Her symptoms increased and she died suddenly in the apartment of a friend.

*Note that this slide includes both lung tissue and a hilar lymph node.

Questions

  1. What were the accompanying gross changes in this lung, based on the microscopic features?
  2. What histologic changes support the diagnosis of tuberculosis?
  3. What is the difference between a Langhans type giant cell and a foreign body giant cell?
  4. What other condition was presumably present at the time of death in this patient, based on the lung tissue microscopic findings?