TUBERCULOSIS IN OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY - STI LL AN IMPORTANT DIFFERENTIAL-DIAGNOSIS

Between 1986 and 1992 18 cases of tuberculosis of the cervical lymph n odes, the larynx, the middle ear, or the paranasal sinuses were diagno sed at the ENT clinic of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. A rare case of tuberculous infection of both the maxillary and ethmoidal sinu ses and the pharyngeal tonsil is presented. All patients with involvem ent of the upper respiratory tract had concomitant productive pulmonar y tuberculosis, whereas in tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis and otit is media the disease was regularly limited to the neck and the ear res pectively. Preoperative microbiological testing pointed to a tuberculo us origin in only 3 of the 18 patients, so that histological and micro biological examination of excision biopsy specimens was the most relia ble test. As there was no apparent decrease in incidence over the 7 ye ars, we conclude that tuberculosis remains an important differential d iagnosis in ENT.