Nasopharyngeal tuberculosis: Report of four cases and review of the literature

Abstract

Even if tuberculosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, nasopharyngeal location is unusual and extremely rare. We r eport four new cases observed with short time interval suggesting a trend towards increased frequency. The diagnosis was confirmed by histological anal ysis after a biopsy. The evolution was favorable after anti tuberculosis chemotherapy. In the light of those observations and a review of the literature, we will discuss different characteristics of this disease and we will highlight the need of a systematic biopsy in order to confirm diagnosis and exclude undifferentiated carcinoma especially in endemic regions for both diseases.