Gastric tuberculosis masquerading as advanced malignancy in a young male

Abstract

Gastrointestinal tuberculosis usually involves ileum and cecum in three-fourth of cases. Isolated gastric involvement is uncommon in the absence of pulmonary tuberculosis or immunodeficiency in affected individuals. Here, we describe a case of tuberculosis involving stomach and colon in an immunocompetant young patient who presented to us with dyspeptic symptoms, pain abdomen, and melena. Morphologically, the lesion mimicked as advanced malignancy, but laparoscopic biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. The patient responded well to medical treatment. It should be emphasized that tuberculosis can involve any part of gastrointestinal tract including stomach even in immunocompetent individuals, and it should be kept as differential diagnosis of any chronic inflammatory lesion of stomach, especially in endemic countries as medical treatment is usually sufficient to provide a cure.

Keywords

• gastric tuberculosis
• infiltrative mass
• malena