Clinical misconceptions and diagnostic delays in extrapulmonary tuberculosis: an evaluation on 89 cases

Introduction Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) has highly variable clinical findings, and has a more difficult diagnostic process than pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). The aim of this study was to examine the difficulty of the diagnostic process in 89 cases that applied to different clinics in our hospital, with different complaints. Methodology A total of 89 patients diagnosed with EPTB between March 2020 and March 2024 were included in the study. EPTB diagnosis was determined by excluding patients with primary PTB. Results The mean age of the cases was 47.84 ± 19.23 years, and 52 (58.4%) of the patients were women. There was a significant relationship between the affected area and gender (p Conclusions Due to the difficulty of diagnosis, EPTB should be included in the differential diagnoses of all relevant medical specialties, and insistence should be made for the diagnosis in the presence of clinical suspicion.