Uncommon affliction of a common disease - Primary tuberculosis of thyroid gland

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a major public health problem in India. With an annual incidence rate of 2.8 million new cases, India accounts for a quarter of the global TB burden. Primary thyroid TB still remains a rare entity even in this era of global TB pandemic. Here we discuss a case of primary thyroid TB in a 22-year-old immunocompetent male patient presenting with a thyroid swelling followed by non-healing sinus tract after fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) procedure. TB is a known common cause for development of chronic sinuses and ulcers. However, the primary involvement of thyroid gland along with formation of non-healing sinus tract post FNAC make it a most unusual case posing a diagnostic challenge to the unsuspecting physician.