Multiple oral ulcers leading to diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

ABSTRACT

We report a 47 year old man who presented with painful non-healing tongue ulcers of 3 months duration.Examination revealed an additional buccal ulcer that he was unaware of. Histopathology of the ulcers showed caseation necrosis. Following this report, chest radiography and sputum microscopy performed revealed pulmonary tuberculosis. From this case-study, one should be aware of coexisting pulmonary tuberculosis in patients with chronic non-healing oral ulcers, both for diagnosis as well as prevention of transmission through respiratory droplets.

Oral cavity tuberculosis - oral ulcers - tongue tuberculosis

• REFERENCES

• 1 Challacombe S, Chidzonga M, Glick M, Hodgson T, Magalhães M, Shiboski C. et al. Global oral health inequalities: Oral infections-challenges and approaches. Adv Dent Res 2011; 23: 227-36
• 2 Baghirath PV, Krishna AB, Ashalata Reddy PS. Primary tuberculous osteomyelitis of the mandible- a rare case report. Oral Maxillofac Pathol J 2011; 2: 117-22
• 3 Gupta PP, Fotedar S, Agarwal D, Sansanwal P. Primary tuberculous glossitis in an immunocompetent patient. Hong Kong Med J 2007; 13: 330-1
• 4 Ebenezer J, Samuel R, Mathew GC, Koshy S, Chacko RK, Jesudason MV. Primary oral tuberculosis: Report of two cases. Ind J Dent Res 2006; 17: 41-4
• 5 Kataria SP, Singh S, Parul T, Kumar S, Singh G. Primary tuberculosis of the tongue in an immunocompetent patient: A case report. Asian Pacific J Trop Dis 2012; 2: 78-9
• 6 Mahajan S, Srikant N, George T. Atypical Presentation of Oral Tuberculosis Ulcer. New York State Dent J 2007; 73: 48-50
• 7 Kumar S, Sen R, Rawal A, Dahiya RS, Dalal N, Kaushik S. Primary Lingual Tuberculosis in Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report. Head Neck Pathol 2010; 4: 178-80
• 8 Von Arx DP, Husain A. Oral tuberculosis. Br Dent J 2001; 190: 420-2
• 9 Bhat P, Mehndiratta A, D’Costa L, Mesquita AM, Nadkami N. Tuberculosis of tongue: A case report. Ind J Tub 1997; 44: 31-3