Introduction:

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that usually affects the lungs and is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is transmitted from one person to another through droplets generated in the respiratory system of patients with active lung disease. Esophageal tuberculosis is a rare condition (accounting for only 2.8 % of all cases of gastrointestinal tuberculosis). It usually occurs as a result of the direct spread from the mediastinal nodes, but rarely from the lungs or bloodstream. Its definitive diagnosis requires the isolation of tuberculous bacilli, which is rarely achieved in clinical practice. However, clinically speaking, patients present with symptoms of dysphagia, odynophagia, and weight loss.

Case study:

This is the case of a 40-year-old patient with symptoms of 6 months of evolution with progressive dysphagia exacerbated to dysphagia for liquids, asthenia, adynamia, hyporexia, pleuritic pain, epigastric pain, and cough with whitish sputum. An endoscopy of the upper digestive tract was performed, showing severely inflamed mucosa with irregular ulcerations up to 2 cm deep, which suggested esophageal TB. The diagnosis was confirmed by histopathology, which reported chronic granulomatous esophagitis. Tetraconjugated treatment was initiated, including rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol.

Conclusions:

Gastrointestinal tuberculosis is a rare entity. It should be noted that the severity of the symptoms is usually associated with HIV co-infection, and their association is a frequent occurrence.

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