Lupus vulgaris: Unusual presentations over the face

Abstract

Lupus vulgaris (LV) is the most common morphological variant of cutaneous tuberculosis. However, the occurrence of bizarre clinical presentations over atypical sites often leads to misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment causing significant morbidity. This report seeks to highlight two unusual cases of lupus vulgaris occurring on the face of immunocompetent women and remarkably mimicking periorbital cellulitis and basal cell carcinoma, respectively. The diagnosis was confirmed by histopathology, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). With four-drug antitubercular therapy, both patients had a dramatic response.