Secondary laryngeal tuberculosis revisited

Abstract

Introduction: Laryngeal tuberculosis is often misdiagnosed and is a highly contagious public health problem. The changing pattern of the clinical involvement of this disease poses a diagnostic challenge. The authors report four cases of laryngeal tuberculosis encountered in a short span of one month. Materials and Methods: All the four patients who presented to us with hoarseness had underlying active lesions in the lung. In spite of that they presented with mainly laryngeal symptoms and a multitude of findings on laryngeal examination. A diagnosis could be established owing to a high index of clinical suspicion, and due consideration given to the chest findings and positive sputum examination. The patients showed an excellent response to antituberculous therapy. Results and Conclusions: This study underlines the varied nature of laryngeal tuberculosis and the importance of addressing the hoarseness of a patient at the earliest, for the prompt diagnosis of this infectious condition.

Keywords

• Anti-tuberculosis treatment
• laryngeal tuberculosis
• pulmonary tuberculosis