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Case Reports
. 2020 Jun 8;8(6):e00595.
doi: 10.1002/rcr2.595. eCollection 2020 Aug.

Endobronchial tuberculosis polyps

Christiaan Yu  1 , Chuan Tai Foo  1 , Ar Kar Aung  2 , Simon A Joosten  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Endobronchial tuberculosis polyps

Christiaan Yu et al. Respirol Case Rep. .

Abstract

Endobronchial tuberculosis (TB) is an uncommon manifestation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We report a case of endobronchial TB polyps in a patient from India presenting with cough, loss of weight and night sweats. Computed tomography chest revealed enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes, endobronchial invasion, and nodular infiltrates in the right lower lobe. Flexible bronchoscopy revealed two endobronchial polyps at the carina and left main bronchus which were biopsied. Histopathology showed non-caseating granulomas. Both the biopsy and bronchial washings did not identify acid-fast bacilli on Ziehl-Neelsen stain and had negative TB complex DNA polymerase chain reaction. One month after bronchoscopy, M. tuberculosis was cultured from the bronchial washings. Following six months of TB treatment, there was full resolution of symptoms and significant radiological improvement. We highlight the diagnostic challenges in endobronchial TB which may impact on the timely institution of treatment.

Keywords: Endobronchial polyps; endobronchial tuberculosis; flexible bronchoscopy; tuberculosis.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Computed tomography (CT) chest demonstrating mediastinal lymphadenopathy and endobronchial involvement prior to tuberculosis (TB) treatment. (B) CT chest demonstrating significant improvement following six months of TB treatment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Endobronchial tuberculosis at the carina and left main bronchus visualized on flexible bronchoscopy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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