Esophageal tuberculosis mimicking esophageal carcinoma

Esophageal tuberculosis is rare. In some cases, the clinical presentation of this infection may mimic esophageal carcinoma. Differential diagnosis may be difficult and may result in an unnecessary surgical therapy such as esophagectomy. In this report we document the endoscopical, radiological, histological and bacteriological features of esophageal tuberculosis in a 62-year-old woman. She was admitted to our hospital complaining of dysphagia and odynophagia. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed an ulcerovegetant lesion in the right wall of the esophagus suggesting esophageal carcinoma. Further investigation resulted in a diagnosis of esophageal tuberculosis. She was successfully treated by antituberculous chemotherapy. We suggest that esophageal tuberculosis has to be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of esophageal ulcerovegetant lesions.