Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis: Three clinical case reports

Abstract

Tuberculosis still remain an important Public Health problem. Sometimes it has unexpected forms of presentation and evolution.

The autors present three case reports of ex­tra-pulmonary tuberculosis in which there have been difficulties in the diagnosis and treatment.

The first case report initially presented with cli­nical criteria of a Tolosa-Hunt syndrome but the clinical evolution lead to the diagnosis of tuber­culous cerebral abcess. The second case is of a pacient with multiple osteolytic lesions of the chest wall ressembling a neoplastic process. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated from the lesions. The last case describes a pacient with pulmonary tuberculosis and epididymo­ orchitis which had an unfavourable evolution in spite of in vitro sensitivity to the instituted therapy.

Tuberculosis must be kept in mind in the diffe­ rential diagnosis of many unexplained organic lesions.