Pulmonary and breast tuberculosis in man: an unusual association

Abstract

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis usually involving the lung parenchyma and hilar lymph nodes. Extra-pulmonary involvement is seen in 20% of all TB cases. TB of the breast is an uncommon disease, particularly in men. Tuberculous mastitis is a rare form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, the first case of breast TB was reported in a woman in 1829, but the first detailed description of the disease was only made by the end of the 19th Century. The first case of breast TB in a man was reported about a century later in 1927, and by 1945 there were only 21 known cases of breast TB in men. It is generally believed that the infection of the breast is usually secondary to tuberculous foci elsewhere in the body, which may or may not be clinically apparent. In this case report, we describe pulmonary and mammary tuberculosis in immunocompetent male patient.

Keywords

• breast
• tuberculosis
• genexpert mtb/rif