Hepatobiliary tuberculosis in western India

Tuberculous involvement of liver as a part of disseminated tuberculosis is seen in up to 50-80% cases, but localized hepatobiliary tuberculosis (HBTB) is uncommonly described. During 6 years, a total of 280 consecutive patients with TB were evaluated prospectively for the presence and eti...

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Main Authors: Amarapurkar Deepak (Author), Patel Nikhil (Author), Amarapurkar Anjali (Author)
Format: Book
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications, 2008-04-01T00:00:00Z.
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Summary:Tuberculous involvement of liver as a part of disseminated tuberculosis is seen in up to 50-80&#x0025; cases, but localized hepatobiliary tuberculosis (HBTB) is uncommonly described. During 6 years, a total of 280 consecutive patients with TB were evaluated prospectively for the presence and etiology of liver involvement. Cases with miliary TB or immunosuppression and cases receiving anti-tuberculosis drugs prior to presentation to our unit were excluded (38 cases). Details of clinical, biochemical and imaging findings and histology/microbiology were noted. Of 242 included cases, 38 patients (15.7&#x0025;; age 38.1 <i>&#x00B1;</i> 12.5 years; sex ratio 2.5:1) had HBTB, whereas 20 patients (9&#x0025;; age 39.3 &#x00B1; 16.3 years; sex ratio 2.1:1) had other liver diseases. Diagnosis of HBTB was based on caseating granuloma on histology (18/23 procedures), positive smear/culture for acid-fast bacilli (21/39 procedures) and positive polymerase chain reaction for <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> (28/29 procedures) when diagnostic procedures were guided by imaging results. Thirty-eight cases with HBTB were classified as follows [patients (<i>n</i>), (&#x0025;)]: (A) hepatic TB [20 (52.6&#x0025;)]: (1) granulomatous hepatitis - 10 (26.3&#x0025;), (2) liver abscesses or pseudotumors - 10 (26.3&#x0025;) and (3) calcified hepatic granuloma - 0 (0&#x0025;); (B) biliary TB [15 (39.4&#x0025;)]: (1) biliary strictures - 2 (5.2&#x0025;), (2) gall bladder involvement - 1 (2.6&#x0025;) and (3) biliary obstruction due to lymph node masses - 12 (31.5&#x0025;); (C) mixed variety [3 (7.8&#x0025;)]: (1) simultaneous granulomatous hepatitis and biliary stricture - 1 (2.6&#x0025;) and (2) simultaneous lymph node involvement and calcified hepatic granuloma - 2 (5.2&#x0025;). All the cases responded well to standard anti-tuberculosis therapy. HBTB forms an important subgroup in TB cases. It requires a combination of imaging, histological and microbiological procedures to define the diagnosis. HBTB responds well to treatment.
Item Description:0377-4929