The spectrum of extra pulmonary tuberculosis: Emphasizing the importance of microbiological diagnosis- A case series

Infections caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis mostly involve the lungs. Recently, Extra pulmonary tuberculosis is also on the rise and needs clinical suspicion and must be diagnosed and intervened early to reduce the mortality. This is important, especially in the context of associated coinfections, comorbidities, dissemination, and increased drug resistance. This requires a combined approach which includes clinical, radiological, histopathological, and microbiological evaluation to arrive at final diagnosis. In this case series study, six clinical cases which have presented to Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, a tertiary care teaching hospital have been discussed elaborately, some of these cases were rare and undiagnosed for a long period, and were finally confirmed with microbiological diagnostic modalities leading to timely intervention.