A Case of Esophageal Tuberculosis Initially Presented as Submucosal Tumor

Ye, Byong Duk; Gwak, Geum Youn; Kim, Won; Park, Su Cheol; Woo, Yeol Keun; Lee, Sang Hyub; Kim, Byeong Gwan; Jung, Hyun Chae; Song, In Sung; Kim, Woo Ho

Abstract

Esophageal involvement of tuberculosis is rare. It is usually secondary to tuberculous infection of contiguous organs and most commonly presented as ulcerative lesion in esophagoscopy. This report describes the case of a 62-year-old woman who complained of dysphagia and left chest discomfort on swallowing foods. Initial esophagoscopy revealed submucosal tumor of esophagus, and surgical management was planned. But surgery was delayed, and in the meantime, the enlargement of left submandibular lymph node was detected. The aspiration cytology of lymph node revealed chronic granulomatous inflammation. Subsequently, standard anti-tuberculous drug therapy was started. Follow-up esophagoscopy showed decreased size of submucosal mass and the histologic examination of the lesion revealed chronic granulomatous inflammation. Based on this clinical course, the diagnosis of esophageal tuberculosis presented as submucosal tumor with tuberculous submandibular lymphadenopathy was made. We think that in the differential diagnosis of submucosal tumor of esophagus, tuberculous lesion should be included.