Letter: Culture-positive tuberculosis in Scotland, 1968-72.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
SEARCH · PubMed Health
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The cases of five immigrants with definite or almost certain intestinal tuberculosis are described. Because of the clinical, pathological, and radiological features all were thought as some time, often for long periods, to have Crohn's disease. Recommendations are made for medical and surgical treatment.
Human infestation with nematode worms of the superfamily Strongyloidea has been recorded from time to time to give rise to serious surgical complications. Worms of the genus Oesophagostomum are most frequently responsible. These are common parasites of ruminants, monkeys, and apes in which their histotropic phase is confined to the bowel wall and sometimes results in multiple inflammatory nodules. Man is an accidental host and it seems an abnormal one. The worm fails to return to the bowel lumen, migrates further and persists in the tissues. The commonest manifestation is a solitary tumour-like inflammatory mass or abscess (;helminthoma') in the ileocaecal region. The ileum, transverse and sigmoid colons are affected less commonly and the lesions are occasionally multiple. Patients may also present with abscesses of the abdominal wall. The clinical diagnosis is difficult, even at laparotomy. Carcinoma, appendicitis, ileocaecal tuberculosis are frequently simulated and unnecessary radical surgery is often the result, particularly in expatriate Europeans. In this communication 34 cases from Uganda are reviewed with emphasis on histopathology as responsibility for the correct diagnosis is likely to fall on pathologists. Three characteristic appearances are described and related to phases in the natural history of the disease. Current knowledge on parasitology is reviewed. The disease affects Africans as well as Europeans and it is anticipated that cases will be seen in those returning from the tropics.
Intestinal lesions of 212 cases presenting with symptoms of intestinal obstruction were studied. Of these, 159 cases were diagnosed as tuberculosis and 10 as Crohn's disease. Forty-three cases could not be classified into any of these entities and are excluded from this account. The amount of chemotherapeutic drugs received by each patient preoperatively was recorded. Cases proved as tuberculosis at the first operation were put on antituberculosis chemotherapy. Thirteen of these cases were operated on a second time, and tissue reactions under the influence of chemotherapy were studied. Fresh diseased tissue was studied for acid-fast organisms by culture and animal inoculation.Morphological features of the tuberculosis group are described in detail. Although the cases were broadly classified into the ulcerative and ulcerohypertrophic varieties, a distinction was not always sharp and the two types of lesions were at times found to coexist. The macroscopic features presented a very wide range, and at times distinction from Crohn's disease, especially in the ulcerohypertrophic variety, was difficult. Microscopically, however, they could be distinguished without much difficulty. Caseation, although a characteristic feature of tuberculous granulomas may, albeit rarely, be absent. Granulomas which are characteristically confluent may be present only in the mesenteric lymph nodes. Acid-fast organisms are not grown consistently from diseased tissues; where grown, they are of human type. Reparative changes during chemotherapy are described in detail; these follow a non-specific pattern. In the group of Crohn's disease, transmural cracks and fissures were consistently observed in all cases. Distinguishing features between the two diseases are discussed in detail.
The case is described of a young Asian woman with massive rectal haemorrhage during and after pregnancy. Barium radiology showed aphthoid ulcers in the colon and changes in the ileum suggesting tuberculosis. Colonoscopy revealed hyperplastic ulceration in the terminal ileum and culture of biopsies from this area grew Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The patient made a full and rapid recovery on anti-tuberculous therapy. Colonic aphthoid ulceration has not previously been recorded, radiologically, in intestinal tuberculosis.
Between 1973 and 1983 abdominal tuberculosis was responsible for the admission of 90 patients to a west London district general hospital. Over the same period Crohn's disease was newly diagnosed in 102 hospitalised patients. In contrast with Crohn's disease, the majority (75) of tuberculous patients were Asian immigrants. Mean duration of residence in the United Kingdom was 4 +/- 0.9 (SD) years, and mean age at presentation was 34.9 +/- 1.1 years. Forty per cent of tuberculosis patients presented as an acute emergency to physicians, surgeons, or gynaecologists while the remainder presented a more insidious, chronic picture. Five groups of tuberculous patients were recognised. Forty two subjects had intestinal tuberculosis characterised by pain (100%), abdominal mass (43%) and abnormal contrast radiology (100%). Ten of these underwent emergency laparotomy for intestinal obstruction or perforation. Twenty seven patients had tuberculous peritonitis although only 16 had ascites. Eight patients presented with pyrexia and granulomatous hepatitis. Five had pulmonary and abdominal tuberculosis. The remaining eight patients represented a miscellaneous group. The diagnosis of abdominal tuberculosis was established histologically (60 cases), bacteriologically (six cases) or radiologically (24 cases). Chest radiograph, tuberculin skin testing and paracentesis were usually unhelpful. Five severely ill patients died. The remainder recovered completely after specific triple chemotherapy and response to treatment was usually evident within 14 days. In urban Britain tuberculosis is an important cause of abdominal disease. Prognosis is excellent following specific therapy.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Fifty patients with colonic tuberculosis are reported in whom a colonoscopic diagnosis confirmed by histological examination was possible in 40. Bacteriological studies did not increase the diagnostic yield. Abdominal pain was the most common symptom (90%) and an abdominal mass the most common abnormal physical finding (58%). A nodular mucosa with areas of ulceration was the usual colonoscopic finding. Ileocaecal disease was found in 16, ileocaecal and contiguous ascending colon disease in 14, segmental colonic tuberculosis in 13, ileocaecal disease and non-confluent involvement of another part of the colon in five, and pancolitis in two patients. This report emphasises that colonoscopy is a useful procedure for diagnosing colonic tuberculosis and that segmental colonic tuberculosis is not uncommon.
A retrospective, epidemiological study of abdominal tuberculosis in the city of Leicester from 1972 to 1989 is reported. Potential cases were identified from hospital medical records and endoscopy lists, in addition to the county notification register. The city population of 280,000 included over 75,000 South Asians. There were 146 cases among South Asians and six in Europeans, four of whom were British. The standardised incidence of abdominal tuberculosis in South Asians decreased significantly from 22.3 cases/10(5)/year during the 1970s to 9.2 cases/10(5)/year in the 1980s (chi 2 = 42, p < 0.001). The incidence during the 1980s was 10.7/10(5)/year in Hindus, 8.7/10(5)/year in Sikhs, and 4.6/10(5)/year in Muslims. The relative risk to Hindus was 2.3 fold greater, and for Sikhs 1.9 fold greater, than that for Muslims, a finding similar to that in pulmonary tuberculosis. The standardised incidence in Europeans was 0.2/10(5)/year and they had significantly less abdominal tuberculosis than South Asians (Z = 8.6, p < 0.001 and relative risk = 46). The standardised mortality ratio was significantly increased in Europeans (standardised mortality ratio = 755, 95% confidence interval 90-2730, chi 2 = 11.4, p < 0.001), but not in South Asians (standardised mortality ratio = 68, 95% confidence interval 20-160). Resection rates were similar between the two ethnic groups. Abdominal tuberculosis still occurs among migrants, and clinicians should remain alert to this in South Asians.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
BACKGROUND: Intestinal tuberculosis and Crohn's disease are chronic granulomatous disorders that are difficult to differentiate histologically. AIMS: To characterise distinctive diagnostic features of tuberculosis and Crohn's disease in mucosal biopsy specimens obtained at colonoscopy. METHODS: Selected histological parameters were evaluated retrospectively in a total of 61 biopsy sites from 20 patients with tuberculosis and 112 biopsy sites from 20 patients with Crohn's disease. The patients were chosen on the basis of clinical history, colonoscopic findings, diagnostic histology, and response to treatment. RESULTS: The histological parameters characteristic of tuberculosis were multiple (mean number of granulomas per section: 5.35), large (mean widest diameter: 193 microm), confluent granulomas often with caseating necrosis. Other features were ulcers lined by conglomerate epithelioid histiocytes and disproportionate submucosal inflammation. The features characteristic of Crohn's disease were infrequent (mean number of granulomas per section: 0.75), small (mean widest diameter: 95 microm) granulomas, microgranulomas (defined as poorly organised collections of epithelioid histiocytes), focally enhanced colitis, and a high prevalence of chronic inflammation, even in endoscopically normal appearing areas. CONCLUSIONS: The type and frequency of granulomas, presence or absence of ulcers lined by epithelioid histiocytes and microgranulomas, and the distribution of chronic inflammation have been identified as histological parameters that can be used to differentiate tuberculosis and Crohn's disease in mucosal biopsy specimens obtained at colonoscopy.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.