J Korean Soc Laryngol Phoniatr Logoped.  2020 Dec;31(2):61-65. 10.22469/jkslp.2020.31.2.61.

Clinical Analysis of Laryngeal Tuberculosis: Recent 10 Years’ Experience in a Single Institution

• Kim JH
• Kong TH
• Choi HS
• Byeon HK

• KMID: 2511141
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.22469/jkslp.2020.31.2.61

Abstract

Background and Objectives
The overall incidence of laryngeal tuberculosis (LT) has generally decreased over the recent years, yet there is still a discrete population of patients newly diagnosed with the disease. This study is aimed to examine the patients with LT over the recent 10 years and to investigate the changes in clinical pattern with respect to the past period. Materials and Method A retrospective review has been performed on 20 patients who have been initially diagnosed with LT between 2005 and 2015.
Results
The age of the patients ranged from 25 years to 95 years with an average age of 45.6 years. Seventeen patients (85%) showed hoarseness, which was the most common clinical symptom. Most affected lesion was the true vocal cord. Laryngoscopic examination showed various clinical manifestations: polypoid 30%, granulomatous 25%, nonspecific 25%, ulcerative 20%. A variety of methods were used for diagnostic confirmation of LT [acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear 45%, AFB culture 40%, polymerase chain reaction 30%, surgical pathology 45%]. Coexisting pulmonary tuberculosis (PT) was detected in 10 patients (50%). Relative to the patients with inactive PT or normal lung status, those with active PT showed higher incidence of laryngeal lesions located in areas other than true vocal cord (p=0.050).
Conclusion
Based on the analytic results from this study, laryngologists should recognize the changes in the recent clinical patterns of LT and always be ready for clinical suspicion of this disease on such atypical laryngeal findings which can often mimic laryngeal malignancies to provide the pertinent treatment.

Keyword

Laryngeal tuberculosis; Laryngeal cancer; Pulmonary tuberculosis; 후두 결핵; 후두암; 폐결핵