Polymerase chain reaction based detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in lupus vulgaris: a case report

Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2004 Sep;8(9):1147-50.

Abstract

Lupus vulgaris (LV), the commonest of all forms of cutaneous tuberculosis, can affect the earlobes. Authors present a 20-year-old male patient with LV of the left earlobe initially misdiagnosed as pyoderma and treated superfluously with antibiotics at different intervals over the last 4 years in another hospital. Mycobacteria could not be seen or isolated by stained smears or conventional or radiometric culture methods from the skin biopsy specimens. Suspected clinical diagnosis of our patient was LV. This was supported by positive polymerase chain reaction assay and histological findings. The lesion was treated successfully with anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy, further confirming the diagnosis of LV.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antitubercular Agents / therapeutic use
  • DNA, Bacterial / analysis*
  • Diagnostic Errors
  • Ear, External / pathology
  • Humans
  • Lupus Vulgaris / drug therapy
  • Lupus Vulgaris / microbiology*
  • Male
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / genetics*
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / pathogenicity*
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Pyoderma / diagnosis
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Antitubercular Agents
  • DNA, Bacterial