“TUBERCULOSIS – A COMMON GRANULOMATOUS DISEASE AT UNCOMMON SITES: A COMPREHENSIVE HISTOCYTOLOGICAL STUDY IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF CENTRAL INDIA”

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a common granulomatous disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which primarily affects lungs in about 80 % of cases. Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) is dened according to WHO classication criteria as an infection by M. tuberculosis which affects tissues and organs outside the pulmonary parenchyma. Among EPTB the most common location is cervical lymphadenopathy (63- 77%). Involvement of other organs or location is extremely rare, even in countries in which tuberculosis is endemic. Aim:To study the common granulomatous lesion, tuberculosis at uncommon sites on histological and cytological preparations. Materials and methods: A retrospective study of 76 cases (presented during two years), of extrapulmonary tuberculosis excluding lung, pleura and cervical lymph nodes was undertaken. Cases were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. After morphological diagnosis, cases were subjected to modied ZN staining. This was correlated with ultrasonography and Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplication Test (CBNAAT) wherever available. Results: Majority of cases (63.2%) were females. Most of the cases (28/60) belonged to the age group between 21 and 30 years. Most common of the uncommon sites were axilla followed by breast and submandibular region. Conclusions: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis is quite common and keeping a high index of suspicion helps in early diagnosis and hence early treatment of this disease.