[Submental swelling in an Ethiopian man].

Abstract

A 27-year-old man from Ethiopia had undergone an extraction of a molar in Libya ten months earlier, after which a submental swelling developed. For that reason, an oral and maxillofacial surgery department was consulted. Clinical examination showed a tender, firm-to-the-touch, non-mobile swelling with central ulceration. There was no pus drainage or evident lymphadenopathy. Intraoral examination showed a sanitized dentition with a healed diastema in the area of the extracted tooth. The patient suffered from fatigue, weight loss, night sweats, fever, headache and a cough. A recent chest X-ray, just as the X-ray taken during the screening upon entry into the asylum centre, showed no abnormalities. The microbiological examination showed a positive polymerase chain reaction for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, after which the diagnosis of extrapulmonary lymphogenous tuberculosis was made. The lymph nodes, particularly those in the head and neck region, are the most common extrapulmonary site of tuberculosis.