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
. 2024 Jul 26;16(7):e65411.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.65411. eCollection 2024 Jul.

Silico-Tuberculosis Mimicking Malignancy

Ragavi Elango  1 , Ashwin Kailash  1 , Ghanshyam Verma  1 , Prasana Rudhramoorty  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Silico-Tuberculosis Mimicking Malignancy

Ragavi Elango et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Silico-tuberculosis is the combination of silicosis and tuberculosis (TB). Symptoms of TB such as dyspnea, cough, and hemoptysis may precede the diagnosis of an endo-bronchial mass lesion on chest imaging. Among workers who were exposed to silica, TB was more common, and experiments indicated that silica inhibits alveolar macrophage activity and severe exposure induces apoptosis. Endobronchial neoplasms, which are tumors primarily affecting the bronchial lumen, are uncommon and may show up in a wide variety of different ways pathologically. Cough, chest discomfort, wheezing, hemoptysis, recurrent pneumonia, and weight loss are common complaints from people with endobronchial tumors. The requirement for additional bronchoscopy and imaging examination is raised when symptoms such as hemoptysis and obstructive pneumonia are present. Endobronchial silicosis lesions are uncommon and develop as a result of broncho lithiasis, the endoluminal erosion of peri bronchial adenopathy, or local bronchial wall silica-induced fibrosis. Endobronchial TB can present in a varied manner, diagnosis is often challenging as there is no specific radiological feature, and sputum acid-fast bacilli several times come out negative. However, a bronchoscopy with or without biopsy is a useful investigation in these cases. The following case is a rare manifestation of endobronchial TB as it mimicked malignancy, describing the difficulties in diagnosis and treating a patient who had both silicosis and endobronchial TB.

Keywords: acid-fast bacilli; bronchoscopy; occupational hazards; silicosis; tuberculosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Chest X-ray-postero-anterior (PA) view showing bilateral diffuse nodular opacities
Figure 2
Figure 2. (a and b) High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) thorax showing multiple nodular opacities in bilateral upper and lower lobes
Figure 3
Figure 3. Tumor growth was observed in the bronchus of the left upper lobe
Figure 4
Figure 4. Histopathological examination (HPE) of the biopsy revealed granulomatous changes, giant cells, and epithelioid cells
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Silica, silicosis and tuberculosis. Rees D, Murray J. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17439668/ Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2007;11:474–484. - PubMed
    1. Silico-tuberculosis and associated risk factors in central province of Iran. Farazi A, Jabbariasl M. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4491449/ Pan Afr Med J. 2015;20:333. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Endobronchial tuberculosis: two case reports and review of the literature. Aneja A, Krishnaswamy UM, Thyagaraj V, Moideen RP, Satya Padmaja M. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4151577/ Case Rep Pulmonol. 2014;2014:283972. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Endobronchial tuberculosis mimicking malignancy. Patel SM, Iyer A, Jayalakshmi TK, Nair G. Lung India. 2015;32:508–510. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Risk of pulmonary tuberculosis relative to silicosis and exposure to silica dust in South African gold miners. Hnizdo E, Murray J. Occup Environ Med. 1998;55:496–502. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources