A case report of a tongue ulcer presented as the first sign of occult tuberculosis
Abstract Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious infectious disease with considerable fatality, typically affecting the pulmonary system and, rarely, other body organs including the oral cavity. Due to the rarity of oral TB, it is frequently overlooked in differential diagnosis of oral lesions. De...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2019-04-01
|
| Series: | BMC Oral Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12903-019-0764-y |
| _version_ | 1828424798726782976 |
|---|---|
| author | Seo-Yeong Kim Jin-Seok Byun Jae-Kap Choi Jae-Kwang Jung |
| author_facet | Seo-Yeong Kim Jin-Seok Byun Jae-Kap Choi Jae-Kwang Jung |
| author_sort | Seo-Yeong Kim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious infectious disease with considerable fatality, typically affecting the pulmonary system and, rarely, other body organs including the oral cavity. Due to the rarity of oral TB, it is frequently overlooked in differential diagnosis of oral lesions. Despite a declining trend in TB incidence in recent years, it is still a major public health problem with high contagiousness, thereby requiring the early diagnosis and prompt treatment. Case presentation A 57-year-old male patient presented with chief complaint of painful ulcer on tip of his tongue. He reported that the ulcer developed without any remarkable event such as mechanical trauma, vesicle formation or systemic illness. His past medical history revealed the TB over 40 years ago, which had reportedly healed after pharmacological treatments. As the ulceration persisted after topical steroid application and careful education about avoiding possible mechanical stimuli, biopsy was performed and histological finding showed typical findings of oral tuberculosis including intense granulomatous inflammatory features with small red rods of mycobacterial organisms as well as epithelioid cells and Langhans giant cells. After suitable antituberculosis treatments, oral tuberculosis ulcer was almost completely healed. We present a case of oral TB affecting tip of the tongue in a patient with a history of pulmonary TB and emphasize the understanding of intraoral manifestations for early diagnosis and prompt treatment of TB. Conclusions The present case represented the importance of understanding oral tuberculosis manifestations for dental clinicians who might be frequently the first health care professionals to encounter various oral lesions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T16:23:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ad7d34afeccc4d74b1985748a0ce9530 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6831 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T16:23:02Z |
| publishDate | 2019-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Oral Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-ad7d34afeccc4d74b1985748a0ce95302022-12-22T01:41:46ZengBMCBMC Oral Health1472-68312019-04-011911510.1186/s12903-019-0764-yA case report of a tongue ulcer presented as the first sign of occult tuberculosisSeo-Yeong Kim0Jin-Seok Byun1Jae-Kap Choi2Jae-Kwang Jung3Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National UniversityDepartment of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National UniversityDepartment of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National UniversityDepartment of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National UniversityAbstract Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious infectious disease with considerable fatality, typically affecting the pulmonary system and, rarely, other body organs including the oral cavity. Due to the rarity of oral TB, it is frequently overlooked in differential diagnosis of oral lesions. Despite a declining trend in TB incidence in recent years, it is still a major public health problem with high contagiousness, thereby requiring the early diagnosis and prompt treatment. Case presentation A 57-year-old male patient presented with chief complaint of painful ulcer on tip of his tongue. He reported that the ulcer developed without any remarkable event such as mechanical trauma, vesicle formation or systemic illness. His past medical history revealed the TB over 40 years ago, which had reportedly healed after pharmacological treatments. As the ulceration persisted after topical steroid application and careful education about avoiding possible mechanical stimuli, biopsy was performed and histological finding showed typical findings of oral tuberculosis including intense granulomatous inflammatory features with small red rods of mycobacterial organisms as well as epithelioid cells and Langhans giant cells. After suitable antituberculosis treatments, oral tuberculosis ulcer was almost completely healed. We present a case of oral TB affecting tip of the tongue in a patient with a history of pulmonary TB and emphasize the understanding of intraoral manifestations for early diagnosis and prompt treatment of TB. Conclusions The present case represented the importance of understanding oral tuberculosis manifestations for dental clinicians who might be frequently the first health care professionals to encounter various oral lesions.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12903-019-0764-yOral tuberculosisOral ulcerationTongue |
| spellingShingle | Seo-Yeong Kim Jin-Seok Byun Jae-Kap Choi Jae-Kwang Jung A case report of a tongue ulcer presented as the first sign of occult tuberculosis BMC Oral Health Oral tuberculosis Oral ulceration Tongue |
| title | A case report of a tongue ulcer presented as the first sign of occult tuberculosis |
| title_full | A case report of a tongue ulcer presented as the first sign of occult tuberculosis |
| title_fullStr | A case report of a tongue ulcer presented as the first sign of occult tuberculosis |
| title_full_unstemmed | A case report of a tongue ulcer presented as the first sign of occult tuberculosis |
| title_short | A case report of a tongue ulcer presented as the first sign of occult tuberculosis |
| title_sort | case report of a tongue ulcer presented as the first sign of occult tuberculosis |
| topic | Oral tuberculosis Oral ulceration Tongue |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12903-019-0764-y |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT seoyeongkim acasereportofatongueulcerpresentedasthefirstsignofocculttuberculosis AT jinseokbyun acasereportofatongueulcerpresentedasthefirstsignofocculttuberculosis AT jaekapchoi acasereportofatongueulcerpresentedasthefirstsignofocculttuberculosis AT jaekwangjung acasereportofatongueulcerpresentedasthefirstsignofocculttuberculosis AT seoyeongkim casereportofatongueulcerpresentedasthefirstsignofocculttuberculosis AT jinseokbyun casereportofatongueulcerpresentedasthefirstsignofocculttuberculosis AT jaekapchoi casereportofatongueulcerpresentedasthefirstsignofocculttuberculosis AT jaekwangjung casereportofatongueulcerpresentedasthefirstsignofocculttuberculosis |