[A case of laryngeal and tracheobronchial tuberculosis]

The patient was 38-year-old male. His chief complaint was persistent cough. He had been diagnosed at an another clinic as tuberculosis by positive sputum culture. Laboratory findings at the first examination were as follows: ESR was 10 mm/1 hr and CRP was 0.920 mg/dl and other data were within normal limits. Chest X-ray showed infiltrative shadow in the left lower lobe. Bronchoscopic findings before treatment were as follows: there were ulcers on bilateral vocal cords, small white nodules with reddness in trachea and red nodules and white coated ulcers in left main bronchus. He was treated with combination chemotherapy (INH, RFP, EB) and the steroid inhalation was added 1 month later after the initiation of chemotherapy. Bronchoscopic findings at 2 months after starting chemotherapy were as follows: lesions of vocal cords and trachea were improved and lesion of left main bronchus was scarred without stenosis. Bronchial stenosis as sequelae of endobronchial tuberculosis deteriorates the patients' quality of life. Therefore it is important to diagnose endobronchial tuberculosis early and to start treat with chemotherapy as soon as possible, and the follow up by bronchoscopy should be done during treatment.