Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) of the head and neck has proved to be a diagnostic challenge for otorhinolarynologists around the world and is often misdiagnosed as cancer. To contribute to a better understanding of TB in the head and neck region by assessing its various manifestations, presentations, diagnostic techniques, risk factors, coexisting illnesses and treatment modalities. This was a retrospective study conducted over a 3 year period (2012–2014) in 2 hospitals in South India, among patients diagnosed to have TB of the head and neck. A semi structured proforma was used to capture information from the medical records pertaining to the various objectives of the study. Data was analysed using SPSS version 16.0 and results obtained were depicted as percentages. Chi-square test was used to find association between the variables and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Among 104 patients with TB of the head and neck, the most common manifestation was found to be Tubercular Lymphadenitis (86.53%), followed by laryngeal TB, submandibular gland TB, deep neck space abscess and adenotonsillar TB. FNAC was found to be the gold standard for the diagnosis of TB lymphadenitis. 26% of the patients had coexisting HIV infection and 16.3% of the patients had associated pulmonary TB. More than 20% of the patients were smokers. Most patients were treated using ATT. Tuberculosis of head and neck is no longer uncommon. Pulmonary TB need not be associated nor is smoking a risk factor according to our study.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Global Tuberculosis Control (2010) WHO report 2010. World Health Organization, Geneva
Gupta KB, Yadav SPS, Manchanda M (2005) Primary pharyngeal tuberculosis. Lung India 22:127–129
Khan KA, Khan NA, Maqbool M (2005) Otorhinolaryngological manifestations of tuberculosis. JK Sci 4:3
Pandurang K, Shenoy VS, Bhojwani K, Alva A, Prasad V et al (2014) Tuberculosis in the head and neck in India: down but not yet dead. J Mycobact Dis 4(2):148. doi:10.4172/2161-1068.1000148. Accessed on 6th Jan 2015
Hafeez Muhammad, Ullah Inayat, Ahmad Ibrar, Ullah Zakir (2011) Otorhinolaryngological manifestations of tuberculosis. Pak J Med Sci 27(4):855–857
Al-Serhani AM (2001) Mycobacterial infections of the head and neck: presentation and diagnosis. Laryngoscope 111:2012–2016
Global Tuberculosis Control (2014) WHO report 2014. World Heath Organization, Geneva, p 171
Wares F, Balasubramanian R, Mohan A, Sharma SK (2005) Extrapulmonary tuberculosis: management and control. Indian J Tuberc: 2007 (54):165–167
Bruzgielewicz A, Rzepakowska A, Osuch-Wojcikewicz E (2014) Tuberculosis of the head and neck—epidemiological and clinical presentation. Arch Med Sci 10(6):1160–1166
Agarwal A, Agrawal VK (2011) Impact of tobacco smoke on tuberculosis: a case control study. Natl J Integr Res Med 2(3):38–42
Perlman DC, D’Amico R, Salomon N (2001) Mycobacterial infections of the head and neck. Curr Infect Dis Rep 3(3):233–241
Nalini B, Vinayak S (2006) Tuberculosis in ear, nose, and throat practice: its presentation and diagnosis. Am J Otolaryngol 27(1):39–45. doi:10.1016/j.amjoto.2005.07.005. Accessed on 7th Jan 2015
Choudhury N, Bruch G, Kothari P, Rao G, Simo R (2005) 4 years’ experience of head and neck tuberculosis in a South London Hospital. J R Soc Med 98:267–269
Bull TR (1966) Tuberculosis of the larynx. Br Med J 2:991–992
Ataman M, Sözeri B, Ozçelik T, Gedikoglu G (1992) Tuberculosis of the parotid salivary gland. Auris Nasus Larynx 19:271–273
Jadia S, Chauhan A, Hazari R, Maurya A, Biswas R (2010) An unusual case of recurrent tonsillitis. BMJ Case Rep. doi:10.1136/bcr.12.2009.2561. Accessed on 11th Aug 2015
Kulkarni NS, Gopal GS, Ghaisas SG, Gupte NA (2001) Epidemiological considerations and clinical features of ENT tuberculosis. J Laryngol Otol 115(7):555–558
Gupta KB, Gupta R (2003) Association between smoking and tuberculosis. Indian J Tuberc 50(1):5–8
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
There is no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.
Informed Consent
Permission to analyse case sheets of patient participants was obtained from the Medical Superintendent of Government Wenlock Hospital and Kasturba Medical College Hospital Attavar, Managlore. Since this is a retrospective study, there is no informed consent as there are no active participants.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sriram, R., Bhojwani, K.M. Manifestations of Tuberculosis in Otorhinolaryngology Practice: A Retrospective Study Conducted in a Coastal City of South India. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 69, 210–215 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-017-1079-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-017-1079-4