Laryngeal tuberculosis in the United States of America: A forgotten disease

Abstract

Laryngeal tuberculosis (TB) was a common manifestation of TB in the early twentieth century, but now represents only 1% of all cases. Most modern case series of laryngeal TB originate outside the USA. We report a case of laryngeal TB from our institution and review other US cases published between 1970 and 2012. One hundred twenty-seven cases were identified. The mean patient age was 49 y and 28% were female. The mean duration of symptoms was 19 weeks. Dysphonia and weight loss were the most common manifestations, seen in 96% and 47% of cases, respectively. These symptoms were usually attributed to malignancy initially. Most cases involved the vocal cords. Eighty-six percent of cases had underlying pulmonary involvement. Mortality was 3%. In the USA, laryngeal TB is rarely suspected and often confused with malignancy. This infection should be considered in patients with unexplained dysphonia and weight loss.

Keywords::

• Dysphonia
• laryngeal tuberculosis
• larynx
• mycobacteria

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr Vicki J. Schnadig for providing the pathology image and Dr Lucas S. Blanton for reviewing the manuscript.

Declaration of interest: The authors have no disclosures or conflicts of interests.