Esophageal Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review

Involvement of esophagus with tuberculous infection is a rare form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Secondary esophageal tuberculosis is much more common than primary TB. The most common source of secondary esophageal involvement is tuberculous mediastinal lymphadenitis. Esophageal tuberculosis mimics carcinoma esophagus. Clinical features are same and it is difficult on imaging studies also to differentiate the two pathologies. Misdiagnosis is common. The disease is medically curable; therefore, it is essential to make all efforts to diagnose the pathology with non-surgical diagnostic modalities in suspected cases so as to save patients from the trauma of major surgical resection. Surgical intervention is indicated for failed medical therapy and complications. A total of 133 cases of esophageal TB have been reported till date. The authors encountered 4 cases of esophageal TB between April 2011 and March 2019. The aim of this article is to present our data and to provide comprehensive review of the available literature on this pathology in order to gain a better understanding of diagnostic methods and provide guidelines for the diagnosis and management of esophageal TB.