Chest wall tumor tuberculosis in Indonesian adolescent

BACKGROUND: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis has increased in the last few decades, and establishing a diagnosis is still challenging. CASE PRESENTATION: A 15 years old Indonesian adolescent complained of a lump on the right lung. The patient and his mother had a history of pulmonary tuberculosis and received the anti-tuberculosis drug. Chest inspection showed a soft consistency mass, smooth surface, poorly defined borders, and size of 7 × 7 cm in the posterolateral dextra region. Radiological examination showed a mass of 2 × 2.5 × 5.3 cm in the right anterior mediastinum. FNAB lymph nodes showed granulomatous inflammation consistent with tuberculosis. The patient had a wide excision tumor, and a GeneXpert MTB/RIF examination of the tumor excision material showed that Mycobacterium tuberculosis was detected very low. The patient received an anti-tuberculosis drug and had a good prognosis. DISCUSSION: Patients with a family history of tuberculosis should be examined for tuberculosis. Although in a patient with lung carcinoma signs and symptoms, it does not rule out chest wall tuberculosis. CONCLUSION: Enforcement of the correct diagnosis can increase the prognosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis.