CUTANEOUS TUBERCULOSIS IN HONG-KONG - A 10-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

Background. Cutaneous tuberculosis was once a relatively common skin d isease in Hong Kong. Tuberculosis verrucosa cutis was the commonest ty pe. Because the last survey was carried out 25 years ago, it was thoug ht necessary to find out the new incidence and pattern of this importa nt disease in this locality. Methods. A 10-year (1983-1992) retrospect ive survey on the epidemiologic and clinicobacteriologic aspects of cu taneous tuberculosis had been done in the public sector of Hong Kong. The records of the confirmed cases were retrieved for statistical anal ysis. Results. A total of 176 cases are included in the final analysis . This represents 0.066% of all new skin cases seen during the 10-year period. Among these, 79.5% are erythema induratum, 6.3% lupus vulgari s, and 4.5% tuberculosis verrucosa cutis. They are further divided int o true cutaneous tuberculosis (14.8%, n=26) and the tuberculide (85.2% , n=150). Among the patients with true tuberculosis, 42.3% had lupus v ulgaris, 30.8% had tuberculosis verrucosa cutis, and 26.9% had scroful oderma. Among the tuberculides, erythema induratum accounted for 93.3% . Conclusions. Cutaneous tuberculosis is now uncommon in Hong Kong. Tu berculosis verrucosa cutis is no longer the commonest type in Hong Kon g as described in some textbooks. Erythema induratum is now the most c ommon among the total cases and lupus vulgaris is the most common amon g the true cutaneous forms of tuberculosis.