Isolated caecal tuberculosis mimicking a neoplastic tumour in an immunocompetent woman

Abstract

Although tuberculosis is endemic in Tunisia, only a few cases of intestinal disease have been reported. This entity is usually associated with pulmonary tuberculosis. Any part of the gastrointestinal tract may be affected but usually with ileocaecal involvement. Diagnosis is extremely difficult because the clinical presentation is so variable. The disease frequently mimics other chronic inflammatory intra-abdominal diseases or even malignancy. We report a case of isolated colonic tuberculosis presenting as circumferential ulcerovegetative lesions in the caecal region.