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Case Reports
. 2021 Jun 20:67:102525.
doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2021.102525. eCollection 2021 Jul.

Lingual primary tuberculosis mimicking malignancy

Bahaa Razem  1 , Sami El Hamid  1 , Iro Salissou  1 , Mohamed Raiteb  1 , Faiçal Slimani  1   2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Lingual primary tuberculosis mimicking malignancy

Bahaa Razem et al. Ann Med Surg (Lond). .

Abstract

Introduction: The constant increase in the incidence of tuberculosis, as long as the emerging global resistance to antituberculous drugs warrants an increased awareness of the possibility of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in persistent lesions of the oral cavity. Lingual tuberculosis is a rarely described entity of extra pulmonary tuberculosis. It usually presents as a non-healing chronic mucosal lesion that may mimic malignant lingual neoplasms.

Case report: In the present paper, we report a rare presentation of lingual tuberculosis in a 36 years old woman, which was clinically suspected as an extensive malignant fissure of the tongue. The diagnosis was confirmed by tongue biopsy and the patient responded well to the antitubercular chemotherapy.

Discussion: lingual tuberculosis is a rare clinical and pathological entity of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Only a few cases have been reported around the world, and in each one of them, a unique clinical form has been described. This variability of clinical presentations can allude to several pathological conditions including malignancy.

Conclusion: This case report is a documentation of a unique clinical and radiological presentation of lingual tuberculosis; it also highlights the importance of considering tuberculosis in the differential diagnosis of chronic tongue lesions.

Keywords: Case report; Fissure; Tongue; Tuberculosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors of this article have no conflict or competing interests. All of the authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Photographs of the patient chowing the severe trismus (A) and the fissure of the undersurface of the tongue (B).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Photograph of the patient chowing her mouth opening after one month of treatment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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