Clinical features of laryngeal tuberculosis in Iran

Tuberculosis is a major health problem in Iran and its laryngeal involvement is not uncommon. Laryngeal tuberculosis is so infectious and delay in diagnosis and treatment could result spread of disease and causes divesting complications. We reviewed clinical and para-clinical characteristics of patients with laryngeal tuberculosis in Iran. In a cross sectional study, patients with laryngeal tuberculosis were studied and followed. All patients admitted from May 2000 to Dec 2011 in Amir-Alam hospital, a referral center for laryngeal diseases in Tehran. We studied 19 cases of laryngeal tuberculosis with typical histopathology (chronic granulomatous inflammation with caseous necrosis and langhans-type giant cells) and 6 cases of laryngeal tuberculosis with atypical histopathology (chronic granulomatous inflammation or chronic inflammation without necrosis). They had laryngeal symptoms and signs from 2 to 12 months before definitive diagnosis. Macroscopic appearances of laryngeal lesions were exophytic in 11 cases and ulcerative in 14 cases. True vocal cords were involved in 22 cases. The primary clinical diagnosis was malignancy in 17 cases, tuberculosis in 5 cases, and nonspecific inflammation in 3 cases. The chest x-ray findings were compatible with tuberculosis in 14 patients. The response to anti-tuberculosis therapy was desirable in all patients. In endemic area, tuberculosis should be considered as an important diagnosis in patients with laryngeal lesions even when histopathology of laryngeal lesions is not typical. Association with pulmonary tuberculosis helps for diagnosis.