Summary
Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis that affects millions of people around the world. Although it manifests primarily in the lungs, it can also affect other parts of the body, such as the head and neck regions. Although rare, cases of tuberculosis in the parotid glands, palatine tonsils, and piriform sinus have been reported. The most common form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in this region is superficial lymphadenopathy, which mainly affects the nodules of the anterior cervical area. Lymph nodes affected by tuberculosis present specific characteristics on ultrasound, which can help in diagnosis. The diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis is made through tests such as fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) or polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which allow the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the affected tissues to be detected. Treatment of tuberculosis involves the use of anti-tuberculosis antibiotics for long periods of time. It is important to follow the complete treatment to ensure the eradication of bacteria and prevent recurrence of the disease. In this article, we present a systematic review of the literature on extrapulmonary tuberculosis in the head and neck region and case of an 81-year-old male patient, who presented with a 3-week increase in left submandibular volume with a diagnostic hypothesis of idiopathic submaxilitis. The patient had multiple supraclavicular, mediastinal and hilar lymphadenopathy; following scan, biopsies, and cultures, the patient tested positive for tuberculosis that manifested extrapulmonarily.
KEY WORDS: extrapulmonary tuberculosis, idiopathic submaxilitis, lymphadenopathy.
How to cite this article
RAMÍREZ V., D.; LAZO R., S.; LAPORTE W., P.; SECCHI A., A.; BARRIENTOS M., C.; PINEDA T., E.; LÓPEZ N., F. & DÍAZ B., E. Extrapulmonary tuberculosis as cervical lymphopathy: Systematic review and clinical case presentation. Int. J. Odontostomat., 18(2):234-242, 2024.
