Infect Chemother.  2011 Feb;43(1):68-71. 10.3947/ic.2011.43.1.68.

Testicular Tuberculosis That Mimicked Testicular Cancer

• Kim WJ
• Shin KH
• Kim MH
• Cho WH
• Lee K
• Kim KU
• Jeon DS
• Park HK
• Kim YS
• Lee MK
• Park SK

• KMID: 2170337
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2011.43.1.68

Abstract

Next to lymphatic involvement, genitourinary tuberculosis is considered the second most common manifestation of extrapulmonary tuberculosis worldwide. However, testicular and spermatic cord involvement is uncommon. We report here on a case of testicular and spermatic cord tuberculosis that masqueraded as testicular cancer. A 25-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with painless right scrotal swelling for past 2 months. The abdominal CT scan showed a heterogenous testicular mass that was suspicious for being malignancy. He underwent right radical orchiectomy; testicular and spermatic cord tuberculosis was revealed on histopathological examination. This case highlights the importance of taking a thoughtful diagnostic approach for testicular and spermatic cord tuberculosis, including fine needle aspiration before performing surgical exploration.

Keyword

Urogenital tuberculosis; Urogenital cancer; Testicular cancer

MeSH Terms

Adult
Biopsy, Fine-Needle
Humans
Spermatic Cord
Testicular Neoplasms
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, Urogenital
Urogenital Neoplasms

Figure

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  Figure 1 On the ultrasonographic images, the right testis shows enlargement and inhomogeneous echogenecity. On the color Doppler images, the right testis shows increased vascularity (A). The enhanced CT scan reveals an enlarged right testis, which demonstrated inhomogenous density and necrotic foci (B).

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  Figure 2 The chest radiograph shows fibrocalcified nodules in both upper lobes (A). The chest CT reveals centrilobular nodules and a tree-in bud pattern in both upper lobes (B).

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  Figure 3 Pathologic examination demonstrats normal testicular tissue on the left lower corner, while with necrotizing granulomas and Langerhans cells (arrows) on the center (H&E stain, ×100).

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