Value of Endoscopic Ultrasonography for Diagnosis of Esophageal Tuberculosis: Report of Two Cases

Excerpt

Esophageal tuberculosis (ET) is rare, even in countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis (1). In some cases, differential diagnosis of ET from esophageal carcinoma is very difficult and may result in an unnecessary esophagectomy (2). One of the main reasons for this difficulty is the poorly described clinical, radiological, and endoscopic features of ET because of its rarity. Another reason is that the evidence of this infection such as isolation of tubercle bacilli and caseous necrosis is not usually detected (3). There are insufficient data on the utility of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) in the diagnosis of ET. Herein, we present EUS findings of two cases with ET that were treated successfully with antituberculous chemotherapy. …