Korean J Gastrointest Endosc.  2008 Nov;37(5):335-338.

A Case of Esophageal Tuberculosis as the Cause of a Fever of an Unknown Origin

• Cha JM
• Lee JI
• Choe JW
• Joo KR
• Jung SW
• Shin HP
• Hew WY

Abstract

Fever of an unknown origin (FUO) means a fever that does not resolve spontaneously, and the cause remains elusive after an extensive diagnostic workup. The most common cause of FUO is infectious disease, and the most common infectious cause documented in Korea is tuberculosis, and particularly extrapulmonary or miliary tuberculosis. Among the extrapulmonary tuberculosis, esophageal tuberculosis is a very rare form of adult tuberculosis, and even in Korea with its high prevalence of tuberculosis. Esophageal tuberculosis can present as systemic symptoms such as weight loss, fever, chills and general weakness, or as local symptoms such as chest pain, dysphagia, cough and hematemesis. However, it can present as a prolonged fever of an unknown origin without any other symptoms. In this report, we describe a patient with esophageal tuberculosis, and the patient presented with a fever of unknown origin for 1 month. The patient was diagnosed by esophagogastroduodenoscopy with biopsy and he responded well to antituberculosis therapy.

Keyword

Tuberculosis; Fever of unknown origin; Esophagus

MeSH Terms

Adult
Biopsy
Chest Pain
Chills
Communicable Diseases
Cough
Deglutition Disorders
Endoscopy, Digestive System
Esophagus
Fever
Fever of Unknown Origin
Hematemesis
Humans
Korea
Prevalence
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, Miliary
Weight Loss