Tuberculosis in ear, nose and throat

Tuberculosis of the ear, nose and throat has becomenowadays very rare. This is attributed to early diagnosisand the advent of modern different antituberculous medi-cations. The important predisposing factors are thegenetic, the environmental and the psychological factors,as well as the influence of other diseases that lower thebody resistance such as diabetes mellitus, leukaemia andcortisone.Tuberculosis is almost always accompanied by generalmanifestations as malaise, easy fatigue, anorexia, lossof weight, night fever and night sweats.Laryngeal tuberculosis is commonly limited to theposterior commissure or to the vocal cords due to poolingof infected sputum in this part. Change of voice, painfuldysphagia, cough and dyspnea are the main symptoms.Tuberculosis of the pharynx and oral cavity takesthe form of painful ulcerative lesions that affect thetonsils, the adenoids, the palate, the gingiva and thetongue. Feeding of such a patient may be a major problem.