Tuberculosis of the larynx is usually secondary to tuberculosis lesion in the lung or rarely a primary infection from inhaled tubercle bacilli.
Recently, tubeculosis of the larynx combined with pulmonary tuberculosis has become a quite rare disease since antituberculous chemotherapy and preventive activities.
Laryngeal tuberculosis, while relatively well recognized in the adult population, is a rare disease in children and adolescence. Therefore, the authors are reporting a case of secondary tuberculosis of larynx in a 17-year-old male patient, who
was
presented with odynophagia, dysphagia, and hoarseness, and had active pulmonary tuberculosis lesion in chest X-ray. Fiberoptic laryngoscopy revealed diffuse swelling and granulomatous lesions involving entire epiglottis, left aryrtenoid and both
false
vocal cords. The epiglottic cartilage showed necrotic feature. The histopathology report of aggregations of epithelioid cells, lymphocytes, and Langhan's giant cells were diagnostic of laryngeal tuberculosis.
Combined antituberculous therapy was instituted, and at follow-up 6 months later, his larynx showed no evidence of mucosal disease. (Korean J Otolaryngo1 39 : 7, 1996)
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