Laryngeal Tuberculosis: A Report of 15 Cases

Laryngeal tuberculosis is usually a complication of pulmonary tuberculosis. Recent studies have described a change in the clinical features of laryngeal tuberculosis. We present 15 cases of laryngeal tuberculosis treated at the Osaka Prefectural Habikino Hospital between 1993 and 2000. The results showed a mean age of 51 years, a male predominance by 2.75 to 1, and a 20% incidence (n = 3) of negative chest radiographic findings. The prominent presenting symptom was hoarseness (73.3%), and systemic symptoms were relatively rare. Seven patients showed ulcerative lesions, 5 showed granulomatous lesions, and the remaining 3 showed nonspecific inflammatory lesions in the larynx. Laryngeal lesions did not show any predilection for specific laryngeal sites in our series. In contrast to earlier studies, our study shows variations in clinical features of laryngeal tuberculosis. Physicians should consider tuberculosis in the differential diagnosis of laryngeal disease.