Oral tuberculosis: a clinical evaluation of 42 cases

A retrospective review of a large series of oro-facial cases of tuberculosis to analyse clinical, histopathological, and radiological aspects, as well as those of chemotherapy.

A total of 42 cases of tuberculosis of the oro-facial region were examined. Thirteen patients had a primary form and 29 a secondary form of the disease. Diagnosis was based on careful clinical examination, Mantoux reaction, histopathological examination, microbiological cultures and immunological investigation with the detection of antibodies against Mycobacteria in the patients' serum (ELISA).

Cases examined consisted of 27 males and 15 females. The age range was 3 to 73 years (mean age 31 years). Clinical manifestations comprised oral ulcers in 69.1%, bone involvement in 21.4%, and salivary gland and/or lymph node involvement in 14.3%. A total of 79.4% patients with secondary disease had pulmonary lesions, 15 of whom showed clinical and radiological signs of activity; there was one case of bilateral renal lesions and two of skin lesions.

Oro-facial tuberculosis is often difficult to diagnose and it should be an important consideration in the differential diagnosis of lesions that appear in the oral cavity. The most important diagnostic tools remain a careful clinical evaluation, biopsy for histologic study, as well as acid-fast stains, culture, and immunological assays, and skin testing.