Abdominal tuberculosis in adolescents. Difficulties in diagnosis

Since the nature of abdominal tuberculosis is mimicking a number of diseases, this may cause delayed diagnosis resulting in evident increased morbidity and mortality. Most of the time, serologic and bacteriologic tools are not enough. We report 3 adolescents with distinct presentations, one mimicking Crohn's disease, one with hepatitis, and the last one with ascites. Terminal ileitis and mesenteric lymphadenitis were found in laparotomy of the first case mimicking Crohn disease. Granulomatous hepatitis was found in the liver biopsy of the second patient, and peritonitis was found by laparoscopy of the third patient. Tuberculosis could be diagnosed merely by histopathologic investigation. All were treated successfully without complication.