Tuberculosis of the Oral Cavity Revealing Pulmonary Tuberculosis: About an Observation

Tuberculosis of the oral cavity is a rare entity, often secondary to pulmonary localization. This article reports a case of palatine tonsil tuberculosis, indicative of miliary pulmonary tuberculosis, in a 40-year-old patient who has as history of an actif smoking, alcoholism, without any notion of previous tuberculosis infection. The clinical manifestations of oral tuberculosis are not very specific. It most often results in a chronic oral ulceration that evokes many other etiologies among which a malignant tumor, a bacterial, viral or mycotic infection, a systemic disease, a foot-and-mouth ulcer or traumatic. Any chronic oral ulceration whose etiology does not appear obvious, one must think of tuberculosis of the oral cavity. To confirm this diagnosis, histopathological examination, direct bacteriological examination and culture from fresh tissue as well as search for pulmonary tuberculosis are necessary.