Primary tubercular granulomatous hepatitis presenting as fluctuating jaundice

Abstract

Granulomatous hepatitis is an uncommon presentation of tuberculosis (TB). It is even more peculiar to have TB confined to the liver alone with no pulmonary or a disseminated form. In either form, there is the usual presentation of nonprogressive cholestatic jaundice, but no documented case with fluctuating jaundice in the literature was found. In order to highlight this rare presentation aiding the right diagnosis, we present one such case of a 46-year-old woman with no known comorbidities, who complained of fluctuating and painless type of jaundice, associated with fatiguability, pruritus, and weight loss. Preliminary blood investigations showed anemia and cholestatic pattern of jaundice. Ultrasonography and computed tomography imaging showed hepatomegaly with heterogeneous texture. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography further revealed features of cholecystitis with hepatic ducts near proximal common bile duct showing postinflammatory change. The periampullary region was normal. Sputum acid-fast staining and cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test were negative. Eventually, liver biopsy was done which showed caseating granulomas with Langhans giant cells. The tissue was abundant in acid-fast bacilli. The patient was started on a 9-month course of first-line Antitubercular treatment (ATT) and responded well. Fluctuating jaundice is a rare and undocumented presentation of primary hepatic TB and can cause diagnostic dilemmas.

Keywords

• antitubercular treatment
• fluctuating jaundice
• primary hepatic tuberculosis