Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2013 Apr;7(2):243-245.
doi: 10.4103/1305-7456.110197.

Multiple oral ulcers leading to diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

Vezhavendhan Nagaraj  1 , Shanthi Sashykumar  1 , Stalin Viswanathan  2 , Sathish Kumar  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Multiple oral ulcers leading to diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

Vezhavendhan Nagaraj et al. Eur J Dent. 2013 Apr.

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.

Keywords: Oral cavity tuberculosis; oral ulcers; tongue tuberculosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared

Figures

Figure 1a
Figure 1a
Tongue ulcers- a larger ventral ulcer and a smaller ulcer superiorly, both with undermined edges
Figure 1b
Figure 1b
Left buccal mucosal ulcer covered with pseudomembrane
Figure 1c
Figure 1c
Histopathology of tongue ulcer showing chronic inflammatory infiltrate surrounding the caseation necrosis
Figure 1d
Figure 1d
Chest radiography revealing bilateral upper-lobe infiltrates suggestive of tuberculosis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

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. - PubMed
    1. 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.
    1. Gupta PP, Fotedar S, Agarwal D, Sansanwal P. Primary tuberculous glossitis in an immunocompetent patient. Hong Kong Med J. 2007;13:330–1. - PubMed
    1. 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. - PubMed
    1. 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.

Publication types