Tuberculous cervicitis: a clinicopathological and bacteriological study

Seven cases of tuberculous cervicitis were detected out of 91 culturally and histologically established cases of uterine tuberculosis. There was simultaneous infection of cervix and endometrium in 4 cases and only cervical lesion in 3 cases. Two women gave a definite past history of primary extragenital tuberculosis-peritonitis in one and pulmonary lesion in the other. Clinically, cervix was predominantly hypertrophied in 4 cases and predominantly ulcerative in 3 cases. Acid-fast bacilli (Myco tuberculosis) were recovered from 5 cases, in abundance from 2 hypertrophied lesions and in sparse number from the 3 predominantly ulcerative lesions. Histological examination revealed pseudo-epitheliomatous hyperplasia with poor cellular response in the hypertrophied cervix and non-caseating tuberculous granuloma in predominantly ulcerative cervix. All the patients were from Darjeeling hills where endemic tuberculosis is high. An awareness of this entity is necessary while dealing with the cervical lesion of these patients.