[Apropos of 45 cases of cutaneous tuberculosis in Tlemcen (western Algeria)]

The cutaneous tuberculosis (CTB) is still frequent in Algeria. From March 81 through December 87, forty-five cases were observed in our service of Dermato-Venereology (CHU Tlemcen), something like 6.4 cases per year. The two sexes are equally represented; 66.6% aged under 40; 66.6% are living in cities and have modest social and economical conditions; 20% were inoculated with BCG; previous CTB (personal 8.8% of family 11.1%) were hardly seen. It took some 44% of the patients less than a year to ask for a diagnosis, after receiving several non specific treatments. The rest took longer to come for consultation and in one case, the disease evaluated for 28 years. One explanation is that sometimes the affection causes very little annoyance. The clinical aspects observed were often evocative: Lupus vulgaris, 28.8%, scrofuloderma, 28.8%, specific adenitis, 13.3%, tuberculosis verrucosa cutis, 13.3%, gum, 13.9%, ulcerous CTB, 2.2%. Tuberculin skin test was positive for 86% of the cases and was taken into consideration when it reaches over 15 mm (46%), and with discomfort (4.4%). The treatment was efficient in the large majority of the cases. However, 29.5% of the patients gave up before the end of the cure. We insist upon the priority of the relationship doctor-patient in the case of a chronicle affection, which is less uneasy for some and shameful for a great many.