Saudi Journal of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SJMPS)
Volume-4 | Issue-07 | 824-829
Original Research Article
Laryngeal Tuberculosis- A Retrospective Study in Three Medical Colleges of West Bengal, India
Saileswar Goswami, Dipankar Kumar Basumata
Published : July 30, 2018
Abstract
Laryngeal tuberculosis is an extra pulmonary form of tuberculosis and is found in about 2% of all tuberculosis cases. A retrospective analysis of 31 cases of laryngeal tuberculosis was done in the present study extending for 30 years in three Medical Colleges of West Bengal, India. Out of these 31 cases in the study, 20 patients were male and 11 were female with an M: F Ratio of 1.8:1. The age of the patients ranged from 31 years to 59 years. The highest incidence of 45.2% was observed in the age group of 51 to 60 years, followed by 35.5% in the age group of 41 to 50 years and 19.4% in the age group of 31 to 40 years. All the patients presented with hoarseness of voice and cough was the second common symptom. Out of the 31 patients, 9 patients complained of pain in the throat and seven of those had referred earache also. In majority of the cases, the lesions were limited to the vocal cords, arytenoids, and posterior commissure. False cord was involved in 15 cases and ulcer over the arytenoid was found in 14 cases. Patients with lesions involving only the vocal cords, presented with hoarseness of voice, whereas lesions involving the other areas of the larynx, such as arytenoid and aryepiglottic fold presented with odynophagia. Enlargement of the regional lymph nodes was observed in 5 cases out of the total 31 cases. Most of the cases were found during the first 20 years of the study whereas only 4 cases were found during the last 10 years, which could be attributed to the successful implementation of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme in India. However, the emergence of multi drug resistant strain of the causative bacillus and tuberculosis-HIV co infection has complicated the scenario at present. On histopathological examination, tubercular granuloma with stromal hyperplasia, large number of phagocytes and giant cells, epitheloid cells, Langhans cells and typical necrosis with caseation were found. Confirmation of the diagnosis utilizing a proper diagnostic algorithm and treatment with specific Anti Tubercular Drugs (ATDs) are most important in the management of laryngeal tuberculosis.