Extra Pulmonary Tuberculosis: An Overview and Review of Literature

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most virulent diseases, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). It has been estimated that about one-third of world’s population to be affected with TB. TB is a chronic infectious granulomatous disease. The causative agent of tuberculosis is M. tuberculosis. Extra pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) constitutes about 20% of all TB. It is very challenging the diagnosing EPTB because the sample obtained from relatively inaccessible sites. EPTB is the TB involving organs other than the lungs (e.g., pleura, lymph nodes, abdomen, genitourinary tract, skin, joints and bones, or meninges). The biochemical markers in TB-affected fluids (adenosine deaminase or gamma interferon) and other techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) may be useful in the diagnosis of EPTB. Although the disease usually responds to standard anti-TB drug therapy, the duration of treatment has not yet been established because smear microscopy or culture is not available to monitor patients with EPTB, clinical monitoring is the usual way to assess the response to treatment. Key-wordsTuberculosis (TB), Mycobacterium tuberculosis, PCR, Pulmonary Tuberculosis, EPTB