Nasopharyngeal Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis of the nasopharynx is uncommon and may mimic malignant disease. In this study, 14 patients (17-61 years old; 12 women, 2 men) who were histologically diagnosed as having nasopharyngeal tuberculosis were described. None of them bad known previous history of tuberculosis. Half of our patients had isolated nasopharyngeal tuberculosis with no apparent pulmonary involvement. Eleven patients present with enlarged neck lymph nodes and 6 of the 14 had blood-tinged nasal discharge. A bulging mass, with or without ulceration was the most common nasopharyngeal lesion encountered in 11 patients. Clinically, it appeared to resemble cancer presenting as a nasopharyngeal mass lesion with concomitant enlarged neck lymph nodes. It is important to consider tuberculosis in the differential diagnosis of nasopharyngeal lesions and take biopsy specimens for histological and bacteriological studies.