Tuberculous laryngitis: a series of 37 patients

A series of 27 cases of tuberculous laryngitis is reviewed to assess the diagnostic features of the disease. The condition generally presents in males of late middle age who have pulmonary tuberculosis, although the pulmonary disease is seldom advanced. The presenting symptom is usually hoarseness, and the laryngoscopic appearances frequently mimic a tumor or chronic non-specific laryngitis: few patients correspond to the classical descriptions of the disease found in old texts. Histological examination of biopsy material is usually the diagnostic procedure, emphasizing the difficulty of diagnosis in the general population.