Tuberculosis laríngea diagnosticada en una escolar

Abstract

Tuberculosis is at the present time a worldwide endemic disease. Extrapulmonary tuberculosis is less frequent than the pulmonary form and its diagnosis represents a challenge. Laryngeal tuberculosis accounts for less than 1% of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. In this report, we present a case of laryngeal tuberculosis diagnosed in a 12 years old girl at the pediatric department of a general hospital. The patient had a six months history of hoarseness and persistent cough. At the time she was admitted at the hospital she complainted about stridor, odynophagia, weakness and respiratory distress. A cervical mass was the main finding at her physical exam. A laryngeal nodule was shown after practicing a direct laryngoscopy. The biopsy of this lesion revealed presence of a granulomatous inflammatory process compatible with tuberculosis. Besides the samples of sputum taken at her admission for acid -fast bacilli direct examination and culture were positive. We would like to emphasize the delay in diagnosing this case, because of the outpatient clinical study failed in proposing to carry out a direct laryngoscopy in this patient, despite she complainted of hoarseness and persistent cough