The Telescopic Findings and Clinical Manifestations of Laryngeal Tuberculosis

후두 결핵의 후두 내시경 소견과 임상 양상 분석

Background and Objectives: There has been a gradual decline in the incidence of laryngeal tuberculosis due to effective an-tituberculous chemotherapy and improvement in the standard of living. During the last decade, however, the disease has changed its clinical pattern. We aimed to study a clinical and telescopic evaluation of laryngeal tuberculosis. Materials and Method: A retrospective clinical analysis was done for 16 patients who diagnosed laryngeal tuberculosis from January 2000 through December 2004. All patients had a complete clinical and laboratory work-up including telescopy, chest X-rays, sputum cultures, Tbc PCR(polymerase chain reaction). Laryngeal biopsies were performed in some cases. All the patients received proper antituberculous chemotherapy. Results: The patients age ranged from 21 to 59 with a mean age 43. The male to female ratio was 10:6. The prominent presenting symptom was hoarseness. The various telescopic findings were categorized: 7 patients showed ulcerative, 4 patients granulomatous, 3 patients ulcerofungative, 2 patients had nonspecific inflammatory lesions. Involving sites were true vocal cord most commonly in 12 patients. Three of 16 patients had normal chest X-ray fmding. Among 16 patients, 4 patients showed positive response for AFB stain, 13 patients showed positive for Tbc PCR. Biopsy was done for 3 patients who were not confirmed in initial tuberculous test. All patients responded satisfactorily to antituberculous medication. Conclusion: The telescopic findings and clinical manifestations of laryngeal tuberculosis have changed and seemed to be different from those of classic reports. Thus, the clinicians who deal with the various symptoms and diseases should be aware of the existence of laryngeal tuberculosis and the changing patterns of the disease.