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BACKGROUND: Anthracosis is a disease generally considered to be in the lungs resulting from exposure to industrial dust in the workplace. Esophageal anthracosis is a fairly rare phenomenon and shows a strong correlation with tuberculosis. Moreover, esophageal involvement in tuberculosis is also rare. We here present an extremely rare case in which follow-up gastroesophageal endoscopy revealed a mass with a sunken, black area in the center and raised ring-like pattern in the surrounding mucosa resembling malignant melanoma. Uncovering the patients tuberculosis history finally avoided a misdiagnosis or overtreatment. CASE PRESENTATION: A 67-year-old male patient was admitted to the hospital due to repeated chest pain for 1 month. Endoscopic ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced CT scans revealed a mass adjacent to the esophageal wall with unclear boundaries. Aspiration biopsy confirmed that esophageal tuberculosis was caused by nearby mediastinal tuberculous lymphadenitis. After a standard anti-tuberculosis treatment regimen, the patient achieved a favorable prognosis. The follow-up gastroesophageal endoscopy showed a sunken black lesion with elevated peripheral mucosa replacing the original tuberculous mass, which was thought to be anthracosis, a disease that rarely occurs in the esophagus. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of tuberculosis should be taken into consideration when a submucosal mass appears in the middle part of the esophagus. Endoscopic ultrasonography can effectively contribute to a definite diagnosis. Moreover, this is the first case of esophageal anthracosis observed only 1 year after the treatment of tuberculosis, indicating esophageal anthracosis can be a short-term disease. The traction of the reduction of tubercular mediastinal lymph nodes after anti-tuberculosis treatment may create a circumstance for pigmentation or dust deposition.

ObjectivesTo investigate the clinical epidemiological and drug resistance (DR) characteristics of lymph node tuberculosis (LNTB) in Hunan Province which locates in South-central China, and to provide scientific clues for effective prevention and treatment of LNTB.MethodsWe retrospectively collected LNTB patients with Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture positive at Hunan Chest Hospital, the biggest TB reference hospital in South-central China, from January 2013 to December 2021. The multiple demographic, clinical and drug susceptibility data of patients were collected from the hospital’s electronic patient records. Descriptive statistical methods, Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were employed as statistical methods.ResultsOf the 577 LNTB cases, 373 (64.64%) were males, 352 (61.01%) were farmers; majority (161, 33.10%) aged at 20–29 years old; 147 (25.48%) had simple LNTB, 350 (60.66%) had LNTB combined with pulmonary TB (PTB) (defined as LNTB-PTB), and 80 (13.86%) had LNTB combined with other extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) (defined as LNTB-EPTB). A total of 345 (59.79%, 345/577) LNTB patients had cervical node infection, and the simple LNTB patients (81.63%, 120/147) had higher proportion of this infection than LNTB-PTB (51.71%, 181/350) and LNTB-EPTB (55.00%, 44/80) (both p values

Copyright of Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Humana is the property of Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Biomedicas de la Universidad Ricardo Palma and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for detecting the tuberculosis-secreted antigens ESAT-6 and CFP10 in lymph node tuberculosis. Methods: Archived, paraffin-embedded lymph node specimens from 72 patients diagnosed with lymph node tuberculosis and 68 patients with lymphoma were retrospectively collected from the Department of Pathology at the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan Province, China between January 2016 and March 2023. These specimens were subjected to acid-fast and immunohistochemical staining to compare the effectiveness of these methods, with their sensitivity and specificity evaluated against a comprehensive reference standard. Results: Acid-fast staining demonstrated a sensitivity of 12.3% and a specificity of 100%. IHC staining for ESAT-6 showed a sensitivity of 87.5% and a specificity of 85.3%, whereas IHC staining for CFP10 exhibited a sensitivity of 75.0% and a specificity of 89.7%. Conclusion: The study indicates that IHC detection of ESAT-6 and CFP10 in paraffin-embedded lymph node tuberculosis tissues has a markedly higher sensitivity compared to acid-fast staining. Thus, IHC staining may serve as a supplementary diagnostic tool for the pathological evaluation of lymph node tuberculosis.

Background: Studies on miRNA highlight its significance as an immunomarker for several diseases, including tuberculosis. This study aimed to determine the difference between miR-425-5p and miR-4523 expressions in patients with active pulmonary TB (PTB), latent TB infection (LTBI), and lymph node TB (LNTB), whose diagnosis remains challenging. Methods: This case–control study was performed on blood samples obtained from 23 patients with PTB, 21 with LTBI, 21 with LNTB, and 25 healthy controls (HC). miRNA hsa-miR-425-5p and hsa-miR-4523 expression levels were measured by RT-qPCR. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 25.0. Results: RT-qPCR showed that hsa-mir-425-5p and hsa-mir-4523 expression levels were significantly different among the four groups (PTB, LTBI, LNTB, and HCs). The hsa-mir-425-5p miRNA expression level in LNTB was higher than that in LTBI (p = 0.003). Meanwhile, the hsa-mir-4523 miRNA expression was downregulated in PTB and LNTB than in LTBI (p

Extrapulmonary tuberculosis can present in various ways and often mimics more common presentations. This case of appendicitis ended in a definitive microbiological diagnosis of M. tuberculosis, and shows the diagnostic challenges and techniques available today.

The paradoxical reaction (PR) is a transient worsening following tuberculosis treatment and it is not uncommon in lymph node tuberculosis (LNTB). PR in LNTB maybe wrongly considered as treatment failure or relapse. This review was undertaken to address various aspects of PR associated with lymph node tuberculosis prevalence, underlying mechanism, clinical pattern, predictors, and possible treatment in an immunocompetent individual. A literature review was performed using various databases (PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Google Scholar) to identify relevant articles for review. The prevalence of paradoxical reactions associated with LNTB varies from as low as 13.3% to as high as 35.3% PR may occur during antitubercular treatment or be reported even after completion of treatment called post-therapy PR. An onset of PR may occur within a month of therapy to even 12 months from the initiation of an anti-tubercular drug. Delayed hypersensitivity reaction and reduction in immune suppression is believed to be possible mechanism leading to a paradoxical reaction. PR in LNTB is characterized by either progression of pre-existing nodal enlargement or formation of abscess, sinus formation, or appearance of new nodal enlargement or rarely extra-nodal involvement. PR is a diagnosis of exclusion and may show granuloma, positive AFB smear, or positive GeneXpert but AFB culture is always negative. Younger age, lymph node size of equal to or more than 3 cm, female gender, unilateral lymphadenopathy, and those with positive AFB on initial examination are predictors for PR in peripheral LNTB. The majority of PR in LNTB have a mild course and are generally self-limited.

Copyright of Revista Médica Clínica Las Condes is the property of Editorial Sanchez y Barcelo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: To explore the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) combined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for cervical abnormal lymph nodes. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 150 patients undergoing lymph node examinations at Hangzhou Chest Hospital from January 2017 to December 2019. According to the characteristics of lymph nodes, the patients were divided into three groups: 45 patients had hyperplastic lymph nodes (HLNs; Group-A), 55 had lymph node tuberculosis (LNTB; Group-B), 50 had metastatic lymph nodes (MLN; Group-C). We compared the ultrasonic examination and MRI results between the groups, and compared the diagnostic value of CEUS alone and CEUS plus MRI. Results: Lower resistance indexes (RI) for Groups-A and B than Group-C(P<0.05). Mixed blood flow type was predominant in Group-A, while the lymphohilum type was predominant in Group-B, and the marginal type was predominant in Group-C(P<0.05). The proportion of non-uniform types in Group-B was significantly higher than that in Groups-A and C(P<0.05). After enhancement, the proportions of non-uniform types in Groups-A and B were higher than Group- C(P<0.05). The results of MRI examination showed that positive reinforcement integral (PEI) and maximum slope of increase (MSI) values increased sequentially from Group-B to Group-A, and then to Group-C(P<0.05); while time to peak (TTP) values increased sequentially from Group-C to Group-A, and then to Group-B(P<0.05). The diagnosis accuracy of CEUS combined with MRI was significantly higher than that of CEUS alone(P<0.05). RI-PEI, RI-MSI, and RI-TTP showed high specificity and sensitivity in the diagnosis and differentiation of HLNs, LNTB, and MLNs(P<0.05). Conclusion: CEUS combined with MRI can significantly facilitate the differential diagnosis between HLNs, LNTB, and MLNs. The two diagnosis methods combined improve the diagnosis accuracy of cervical lymph node diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Anthracosis is a disease generally considered to be in the lungs resulting from exposure to industrial dust in the workplace. Esophageal anthracosis is a fairly rare phenomenon and shows a strong correlation with tuberculosis. Moreover, esophageal involvement in tuberculosis is also rare. We here present an extremely rare case in which follow-up gastroesophageal endoscopy revealed a mass with a sunken, black area in the center and raised ring-like pattern in the surrounding mucosa resembling malignant melanoma. Uncovering the patient’s tuberculosis history finally avoided a misdiagnosis or overtreatment. Case presentation A 67-year-old male patient was admitted to the hospital due to “repeated chest pain for 1 month”. Endoscopic ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced CT scans revealed a mass adjacent to the esophageal wall with unclear boundaries. Aspiration biopsy confirmed that esophageal tuberculosis was caused by nearby mediastinal tuberculous lymphadenitis. After a standard anti-tuberculosis treatment regimen, the patient achieved a favorable prognosis. The follow-up gastroesophageal endoscopy showed a sunken black lesion with elevated peripheral mucosa replacing the original tuberculous mass, which was thought to be anthracosis, a disease that rarely occurs in the esophagus. Conclusion The diagnosis of tuberculosis should be taken into consideration when a submucosal mass appears in the middle part of the esophagus. Endoscopic ultrasonography can effectively contribute to a definite diagnosis. Moreover, this is the first case of esophageal anthracosis observed only 1 year after the treatment of tuberculosis, indicating esophageal anthracosis can be a short-term disease. The traction of the reduction of tubercular mediastinal lymph nodes after anti-tuberculosis treatment may create a circumstance for pigmentation or dust deposition.

ABSTRACT Extrapulmonary tuberculosis associated with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is extremely rare. A likely association between ITP and pulmonary and lymph node tuberculosis was reported in a 29-year-old male patient. His platelet count decreased to 4,000/µL. Chest tomography revealed mediastinal adenomegaly, lymph node clusters in the aorta, and consolidation in the left upper lung lobe. Immunoglobulin and methylprednisolone were administered intravenously. The histopathology of the left upper lung lobe confirmed tuberculosis. The rifampicin/isoniazid/pyrazinamide/ethambutol regimen was initiated, and the corticosteroids were tapered off. This case suggests an association of tuberculosis with ITP, since the platelet count effectively normalized after tuberculosis treatment.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) manifests itself primarily in the lungs as pulmonary disease (PTB) and sometimes disseminates to other organs to cause extra-pulmonary TB, such as lymph node TB (LNTB). This study aimed to investigate the role of host genetic polymorphism in immunity related genes to find a genetic basis for such differences. Methods: Sixty-three, Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in twenty-three, TB-immunity related genes including eleven innate immunity (SLCA11, VDR, TLR2, TLR4, TLR8, IRGM, P2RX7, LTA4H, SP110, DCSIGN and NOS2A) and twelve cytokine (TNFA, IFNG, IL2, Il12, IL18, IL1B, IL10, IL6, IL4, rs1794068, IL8 and TNFB) genes were investigated to find genetic associations in both PTB and LNTB as compared to healthy community controls. The serum cytokine levels were correlated for association with the genotypes. Results: PTB and LNTB showed differential genetic associations. The genetic variants in the cytokine genes (IFNG, IL12, IL4, TNFB and IL1RA and TLR2, 4 associated with PTB susceptibility and cytokine levels but not LNTB (p < 0.05). Similarly, genetic variants in LTA4H, P2RX7, DCSIGN and SP110 showed susceptibility to LNTB and not PTB. Pathway analysis showed abundance of cytokine related variants for PTB and apoptosis related variants for LNTB. Conclusions: PTB and LNTB outcomes of TB infection have a genetic component and should be considered for any future functional studies or studies on susceptibility to pulmonary and extra-pulmonary TB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yanqin Shen, Likui Fang, Bo Ye, Xudong Xu, Guocan Yu,&ast; Lihong Zhou&ast; Zhejiang Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Affiliated Hangzhou Chest Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine Integrated Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Guocan Yu; Lihong Zhou, Email dabaitwo@163.com; zhoulh198508@163.comBackground: Early lymph node tuberculosis (LNTB) diagnosis is still difficult. The majority of LN specimens require the undertaking of invasive and unpleasant procedures.Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of pathology when combined with molecular tests for the diagnosis of LNTB in core needle biopsy (CNB) specimens and to compare that diagnostic efficacy with that deriving from tissue specimens’ examination alone.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of LNTB patients who met the inclusion criteria. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and area under the curve (AUC) of pathology, molecular tests, and parallel test (positive result for either of these two assays) were calculated to evaluate their diagnostic efficacy compared with a composite reference standard.Results: A total of 289 patients were included in the study. The overall sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and AUC of pathology, molecular tests, and parallel test were 94.5%, 97.2%, 99.6%, 71.4%, 0.96; 73.1%, 100.0%, 100.0%, 34.6%, 0.87; and 98.4%, 97.2%, 99.6%, 89.7%, 0.98, respectively. For CNB specimens, these values for pathology, molecular tests, and parallel test were 93.3%, 96.2%, 99.4%, 69.4%, 0.95; 76.4%, 100.0%, 100.0%, 40.0%, 0.88; and 99.4%, 96.2%, 99.4%,96.2%,0.98, while those same values for the tissue were 96.6%, 100.0%, 100.0%, 76.9%, 0.98; 67.1%, 100.0%, 100.0%, 25.6%, 0.84; and 96.6%, 100.0%, 100.0%, 76.9%,0.98, respectively.Conclusion: The validity of pathology and molecular testing when using CNB specimens was similar to that of tissue specimens for relevant assessment approaches. For the LNTB diagnosis, CNB specimens were preferred for the simultaneous undertaking of pathological examination and molecular testing.Keywords: pathology, molecular tests, CapitalBio assay, Xpert, lymph node tuberculosis, CNB, tissue, accuracy

BackgroundCervical tuberculous lymphadenitis (CTBL) is a disease often ignored in clinical work, and pathology and Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) are the commonly used methods for tuberculosis diagnosis. This study aimed to compare ultrasound-guided puncture biopsy combined with histopathology and Xpert in the diagnosis of lymph node tuberculosis.MethodsA total of 217 patients highly suspected for CTBL were retrospectively enrolled. All patients underwent ultrasound-guided puncture sampling. All samples were subjected to pathological examination and Xpert test. The sensitivity and specificity of the two methods were compared for all samples. The kappa value was calculated to assess the consistency of the pathological examination and Xpert test using comprehensive diagnosis as the gold standard. Receiver operating characteristic curves of the pathological examination, Xpert test, and their combination were generated, and the areas under the curve (AUCs) were calculated to compare the diagnostic value of the three methods.ResultsThe sensitivity and specificity of the pathological diagnosis of CTBL were 70.1 and 100%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of Xpert for CTBL diagnosis were 82.5 and 97.5%, respectively. The results of the pathological examination and Xpert test showed poor consistency in the diagnosis of CTBL, with a kappa value of 0.388. The AUC of the pathological diagnosis of CTBL was 0.850 (95% CI: 0.796–0.895), whereas that of Xpert was 0.900 (95% CI: 0.852–0.936), and the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.0483). The AUC of pathological examination combined with Xpert for the diagnosis of CTBL was 0.956 (95% CI: 0.920–0.979), and the difference between pathological examination combined with Xpert for the diagnosis of CTBL was statistically significant compared with pathological examination and Xpert alone, respectively (both P < 0.001).ConclusionThe diagnostic efficiency of Xpert test is higher than that of pathological examination, but its sensitivity is still not ideal for clinical diagnosis. According to this study, the consistency of Xpert test and pathological diagnosis is poor, and the combination of Xpert test and pathological diagnosis can significantly increase the diagnostic efficiency.

Hidradenitis is a chronic benign pathology with acute manifestations, mainly occurring among young patients with hyper seborrhea. Its clinical presentation is an inflammatory, nodular and fistulized aspect. It affects many body parts, making its location a referral criterion for diagnosis. Our patient had, indeed, a clinical aspect of hidradenitis. However, pathology revealed that it is tuberculosis lymphadenitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lymph node tuberculosis (LNTB) is the leading type of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) causing death in children. The Xpert MTB/RIF assay is a novel rapid test for the diagnosis of LNTB. Although previous evidence suggests that Xpert is reliably accurate in diagnosing EPTB in children, information is lacking for the specific type of LNTB in children. The aim of this study was to systematically assess the accuracy and reliability of Xpert for the diagnosis of LNTB in children. Methods: We systematically searched four databases, Embase, Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Web of Science, which extracted relevant data according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data were analyzed by meta-Disc 1.4 and Stata 12.0 software to determine sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), etc. Results: A total of 646 samples from 8 studies were included in the analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, negative likelihood ratio (NLR), positive likelihood ratio (PLR,) and combined diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of Xpert for all samples were 0.79 (95% CI 0.70, 0.87), 0.90 (95% CI 0.86, 0.92), 0.29 (95% CI 0.19, 0.43), 7.20 (95% CI 3.32, 15.60), and 37.56 (95% CI 13.04, 108.15), respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) of the summary receiver operating characteristic (sROC) curve was 0.9050. Conclusion: Overall, Xpert showed moderate sensitivity and high specificity compared with culture in the diagnosis of LNTB in children. In addition, after analyzing the combined diagnostic odds ratio and positive LR, our study showed that Xpert has excellent diagnostic accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To retrospectively analyze the diagnostic efficacy of Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) in lymph node tuberculosis (LNTB). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and area under the curve (AUC) of Xpert, pathological examination and culture for LNTB were calculated. 421 suspected LNTB cases were categorized into the LNTB group (377 cases) and non-LNTB group (44 cases). The sensitivities of Xpert, pathological examination, and culture were 72.15%, 20.69%, 30.24%, respectively, with NPVs of 29.53%, 12.83%, 14.33%. The AUC values were 0.861, 0.603, 0.651, respectively. The sensitivity of Xpert varied across sample types: tissue (64.73%), puncture fluid (74.42%), and pus (96.05%). For specific lymph node locations, the sensitivity was head-and-neck (72.51%), mediastinal (84.21%), and axillary (45.83%). Xpert demonstrates high diagnostic value for LNTB, particularly in pus samples. It also performs better in mediastinal and head-and-neck lymph node samples compared to axillary lymph node samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hungarian Medical Journal / Orvosi Hetilap is the property of Akademiai Kiado and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Xi Bao Mao, Nan Li, Zao Sheng Huang, Chen Min Ding, Wen Jun Bao, Jing Fan, Hai Long Li Department of Nuclear Medicine, Changzhou Cancer Hospital, Soochow University, Changzhou 213032, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xi Bao MaoDepartment of Nuclear Medicine, Changzhou Cancer Hospital, Soochow University, Changzhou 213032, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-139-6112-5162Email 1465048069@qq.comAbstract: The special location of abdominal tuberculosis makes it difficult for biopsy, while its clinical and imaging characteristics make it indistinguishable from tumors. Here, we report a female patient that was initially misdiagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but eventually correctly diagnosed with tuberculosis in the celiac lymph nodes using 18F-FDG PET–CT. She was 38 years old. Her main complaint was “deep abdominal pain and discomfort for nearly a month”, accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Diagnosis of pancreatic tumors or enlarged lymph nodes was initially made based on CT scan results. Abdominal MRI revealed enlarged lymph nodes. 18F-FDG PET–CT imaging revealed a soft-tissue mass about 2.8 cm in diameter in the hepatic hilar area with a maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of 9.4, and delayed imaging measured the SUVmax at 12. Enhanced CT showed no vascular envelopment in the mass. Based on these results, the patient was diagnosed with tuberculosis in the celiac lymph nodes. Her tuberculin test was strongly positive. After 5 months of antituberculosis treatment, the mass had reduced to about 1.5 cm in diameter and SUVmax reduced to 8.1, as demonstrated by 18F-FDG PET–CT imaging. Abdominal lymph-node tuberculosis is easy to misdiagnose, but timely 18F-FDG PET–CT imaging combined with tuberculin testing may reduce misdiagnosis and mistreatment.Keywords: 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging, lymph-node tuberculosis, differential diagnosis

Abstract Background Left-sided portal hypertension (LSPH) is an extremely rare clinical syndrome, and it is the only form of curable portal hypertension. It is primarily caused by pancreatic disease, and is associated with complications that cause spleen vein compression. Specific symptoms are often lacking, rendering it difficult to diagnose. Splenectomy is the main treatment for cases complicated by variceal bleeding, and the effects of treatment primarily depend on the condition of the primary disease. Case presentation The patient was a 29-year-old woman who was admitted to the hospital for repeated hematemesis and black stool. She had been misdiagnosed with pancreatic cancer 7 years prior. Combined imaging and endoscopic examination indicated varicose gastric fundus veins, a pancreatic mass, and enlarged peripancreatic lymph nodes. Laboratory investigations revealed reduced erythrocyte, platelet, and leukocyte counts, the interferon gamma release assay was positive, and liver function was normal. Abdominal exploration, splenectomy, varicose vein dissection, and lesion resection were performed via laparotomy. Postoperative biopsy analysis confirmed the diagnosis of lymph node tuberculosis. Based on the above-described factors, LSPH caused by peripancreatic lymph node tuberculosis was a diagnosed. Conclusions Herein we describe the first reported case of LSPH caused by peripancreatic lymph node tuberculosis. When left portal hypertension occurs simultaneously, peripancreatic lymph node tuberculosis is often misdiagnosed as pancreatic cancer. Further studies are necessary to develop a more favorable diagnostic method for pancreas masses and more advantageous therapy for LSPH, especially in cases caused by mechanical compression.

Objectives: To investigate the clinical epidemiological and drug resistance (DR) characteristics of lymph node tuberculosis (LNTB) in Hunan Province which locates in South-central China, and to provide scientific clues for effective prevention and treatment of LNTB., Methods: We retrospectively collected LNTB patients with Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture positive at Hunan Chest Hospital, the biggest TB reference hospital in South-central China, from January 2013 to December 2021. The multiple demographic, clinical and drug susceptibility data of patients were collected from the hospital's electronic patient records. Descriptive statistical methods, Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were employed as statistical methods., Results: Of the 577 LNTB cases, 373 (64.64%) were males, 352 (61.01%) were farmers; majority (161, 33.10%) aged at 20-29 years old; 147 (25.48%) had simple LNTB, 350 (60.66%) had LNTB combined with pulmonary TB (PTB) (defined as LNTB-PTB), and 80 (13.86%) had LNTB combined with other extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) (defined as LNTB-EPTB). A total of 345 (59.79%, 345/577) LNTB patients had cervical node infection, and the simple LNTB patients (81.63%, 120/147) had higher proportion of this infection than LNTB-PTB (51.71%, 181/350) and LNTB-EPTB (55.00%, 44/80) (both p values <0.017), respectively. LNTB-EPTB was more inclined to have abdominal tuberculous LNs (20%, 16/80) and at least four tuberculous lesions (22.50%, 18/80) than simple LNTB and LNTB-PTB. Seventy-seven (13.34%) and 119 (20.62%) were resistant to rifampicin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH), respectively; 72 (12.48%) were multi-drug resistant (MDR), and a total of 150 (26.00%) were DR (resistant to at least one of RIF, INH, ethambutol and streptomycin). LNTB patients aged 30-34 and 50-54 years old (compared to those aged <30 years) were independent predictors of RIF resistance (RR) (ORs were 3.47 and 2.83, respectively; 95% CIs were 1.64-7.35 and 1.08-7.46, respectively)., Conclusion: Our study disclosed the epidemiological and DR characteristics of LNTB in Hunan Province, China. High LNTB prevalence was found in younger people while high RR LNTB prevalence was found in older ones, suggesting that we should conduct further studies to clarify the occurrence of RR in LNTB, meanwhile, strengthen the diagnoses and treatments of LNTB to prevent the emergence of RR., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Fang, Xiang, Li, Liu, Liu, Wu, Xu, Li, Yang, Li, Yu, Zhao, Zhao, Wan, Yuan, Tan and Li.)

Objective: To evaluate changing trends in patient collectives, age‐related patterns of manifestation, and diagnostic pathways of patients with extrapulmonary head and neck tuberculosis (TB), and to provide strategies to fasten diagnosis in these patients. Study design: Case control study. Methods: A 10‐year retrospective analysis of 35 patients diagnosed with extrapulmonary TB in the head and neck at a tertiary university institution from 2009 to 2019, with special focus on the influence of the patient's age on consideration of TB and clinical patterns. Results: The vast majority of patients younger than 40 years had their origin in countries with high TB burden (P =.0003), and TB was considered very early as a differential diagnosis (P =.0068), while most patients older than 40 years were domestic citizens initially suspected for a malignancy, who more often had an underlying immunosuppressive condition (0.0472). Most frequent manifestations in both groups were the lymph nodes, larynx, and oropharynx. Surprisingly, no differences in the rates of open TB or history of TB infection in the family anamnesis were found. Conclusion: The two groups of patients found most often are younger patients migrating from regions with high TB burden and elderly domestic patients suffering from immunosuppressive conditions, with the latter often being misdiagnosed as malignancies. TB remains an important but difficult differential diagnosis, due to the initially unspecific symptoms and the great variety in the presentation of manifestations in the head and neck. Level of Evidence: 4 Laryngoscope, 131:2701–2705, 2021 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To analyze the significance of the combination of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis semi-nested multiple real-time fluorescence quantitative system (Xpert MTB/RIF) detection in improving the diagnostic rate of lymph node tuberculosis. Methods. Retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 351 patients who were initially diagnosed with cervical lymph node tuberculosis and received lymph node puncture in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital from January 2016 to December 2018. The lymph node puncture materials were sent for tuberculosis smear, tuberculosis culture, tuberculosis DNA test, pathology test and Xpert MTB/RIF test. The positive rates of different detection methods and tuberculosis smear, tuberculosis culture, tuberculosis DNA test and pathological test combined with Xpert MTB/RIF test were analyzed. Results. A total of 145 patients with confirmed lymph node tuberculosis were included. Among them, 39 patients were tuberculosis smear positive, 74 patients were tuberculosis DNA positive, 111 patients were Xpert MTB/RIF positive, 51 patients were tuberculosis culture positive, and 87 patients were pathologically positive. Xpert MTB/RIF detected 8 patients with rifampicin drug resistance, of which 6 patients were negative in tuberculosis culture, and 2 patients were rifampicin drug resistant in tuberculosis culture. The positive rate of tuberculosis DNA combined with Xpert MTB/RIF was the highest (91.0%), which was significantly higher than that of tuberculosis smear combined with Xpert MTB/RIF (80.7%), and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.017). It was also higher than that of tuberculosis culture combined with Xpert MTB/RIF test (88.3%) and pathology combined with Xpert MTB/RIF test (90.3%), but there was no statistical significance (all P>0.05). Conclusion. The combination of Xpert MTB/RIF could improve the early diagnosis rate of lymph node tuberculosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB), accounting for 10%–20% of all cases of tuberculosis (TB), is known to be determined by host immunity. However, the contribution of bacterial factors to the development of EPTB has not been studied extensively. Mycolic acids are predominant lipids constituting the cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and keto-mycolic acid is involved in the synthesis of foamy macrophages that facilitate persistence of mycobacteria. Hence, the present study was performed to gain an insight into variable expression of mycolic acids in clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis under stress. Methods: Pansusceptible clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis from patients with lymph node TB (LNTB) (n = 10) and pulmonary TB (PTB) (n = 10) were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) stress, and the expression of mycolic acid and its biosynthetic genes was compared. Any bias arising due to the genotype of the clinical isolates was ruled out by performing single-nucleotide polymorphism cluster grouping (SCG), wherein no significant difference was observed between the SCG of LNTB or PTB isolates. Results: The expression of α-mycolic acid during the exposure to SDS was high in 7/10 (70%) LNTB and 6/10 (60%) PTB isolates. Methoxy mycolic acid showed an increased expression in 7/10 (70%) LNTB isolates and 4/10 (40%) PTB isolates. Increased expression of keto-mycolic acid on exposure with SDS was observed in 8/10 (80%) M. tuberculosis LNTB and 3/10 (30%) PTB isolates. Similarly, the mycolic acid synthesis gene, fas, was upregulated more in LNTB isolates than PTB isolates in vitro and ex vivo. SCG 3a was the most common SCG observed in 40% (8/20) of the isolates, followed by SCG 3b in 30% (6/20) of the isolates. There was no significant difference between the SCG of LNTB or PTB isolates. Conclusion: The higher expression of keto-mycolic acid in LNTB as against PTB isolates may indicate better survival in LNTB isolates in the presence of stress.

The immune system is the body's defense system against infection, pathogenic organisms, or foreign bodies. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection significantly reduces the number of cells involved in the immune system making the infected person prone to a greater number of infections like tuberculosis (TB). HIV infection reduces the CD4 T helper cell count and further replicates within the body. HIV-TB is a major health concern as there is more chance of progression to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the emergence of drug-resistant TB. In this case report, we see how the HIV-TB infection affects the body, significantly affecting the morbidity and mortality of the patient., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Karnan et al.)

Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for detecting the tuberculosis-secreted antigens ESAT-6 and CFP10 in lymph node tuberculosis., Methods: Archived, paraffin-embedded lymph node specimens from 72 patients diagnosed with lymph node tuberculosis and 68 patients with lymphoma were retrospectively collected from the Department of Pathology at the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan Province, China between January 2016 and March 2023. These specimens were subjected to acid-fast and immunohistochemical staining to compare the effectiveness of these methods, with their sensitivity and specificity evaluated against a comprehensive reference standard., Results: Acid-fast staining demonstrated a sensitivity of 12.3% and a specificity of 100%. IHC staining for ESAT-6 showed a sensitivity of 87.5% and a specificity of 85.3%, whereas IHC staining for CFP10 exhibited a sensitivity of 75.0% and a specificity of 89.7%., Conclusion: The study indicates that IHC detection of ESAT-6 and CFP10 in paraffin-embedded lymph node tuberculosis tissues has a markedly higher sensitivity compared to acid-fast staining. Thus, IHC staining may serve as a supplementary diagnostic tool for the pathological evaluation of lymph node tuberculosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Introduction: In countries like Bangladesh, tuberculous lymphadenopathy is a common extrapulmonary site. Its diagnosis and management is a challenge for the primary care physicians for its various clinical and pathological presentations. Hence, the objective of the present study is to describe the clinicopathological profile and outcome of lymph node tuberculosis (TB) cases in our setting. Methods: It was a prospective observational study done among 29 lymph node cases attending the outpatient and inpatient department of medicine of a tertiary care hospital in a period of 2 years. After written informed consent, clinical points are noted and fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) or biopsy of lymph node was done and histologically evaluated and the patients were followed up further. After collection of all data, it was compiled and analyzed by SPSS version 20. Results: Among 29 cases, female patients (17, 58.6%) were more than the male (12, 41.4%) patients and most of the patients were at the age group of 21–30 years (48.3%). Most patients presented with fever (62.1%), weight loss (51.7%), night sweating 62.1%), anorexia (55.2%), and cough (27.6%). Among all, 20 (69%) patients presented with multiple enlarged lymph node group and 9 (31.0%) had involvement of single group. Cervical group involvement was the most common (25, 86.2%), and matting of lymph node was present in 20 (69%) cases. Among all, 24 (82.8%) cases were diagnosed by FNAC and 5 (17.2%) was diagnosed by biopsy. In microscopic evaluation, 18 (62.1%) cases had caseous necrosis, 27 (93.1%) had epithelioid cells and 8 (27.6%) had giant cells. Regarding other investigations, 8 (27.6%) patients had positive mantoux test (MT), 4 (13.8%) had concomitant pulmonary TB, and one case was found sputum positive for acid-fast bacilli. Regarding outcome evaluation, 20 (69%) cases were declared cured, 7 (24.1%) were lost to follow-up, one case died, and one cases was declared multi drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR) TB. Conclusion: In the study, bacteriological evaluation of the response to treatment cannot be done due to difficulty in obtaining follow-up specimens from the lymph node. Response was judged on the basis of clinical features and local examination findings.

Nodules on the neck can be discovered accidentally when looking in the mirror, or due to pain that may be acute or gradual. The clinical examination is helpful to estimate the localization or to assign the nodule to a specific organ and assess its consistency and mobility. A sonography is very helpful in most cases as there are typical findings related to the thyroid gland, findings based on lymph nodes, changes in the tonsils, vessels and salivary glands. In some cases, the ultrasound must be supplemented by fine needle puncture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify candidate key genes and pathways associated with lymph node tuberculosis (LNTB) and reveal the potential molecular mechanisms of LNTB development. Gene expression profile of GSE63548 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichments of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed by DAVID, and the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was performed from STRING database. Furthermore, Cytoscape was used to integrate the network of transcription factor (TF) target and miRNA target. A total of 239 DEGs were screened out. Based on the DEGs, a miRNA of hsa-miR-4536 and 28 TFs, such as GATA1, JUND, NR2F1, POU1F1, and RELB, were obtained. Pathway enrichment analyses revealed that DEGs were mainly enriched in the pathways of regulation of lipolysis in adipocytes, vascular smooth muscle contraction, fat digestion and absorption, NOD-like receptor, and TNF signaling pathway. Furthermore, 53 nodes and 241 interactions were identified in the PPI network. In addition, the integrated regulatory network showed that CXCL9, CD36, LEP, ACACB, ALDH1A3, GPX3, STAT1, and LPL were the target genes of hsa-miR-4536. This study revealed the candidate key genes and pathways that are involved in the pathogenesis of LNTB, which will provide potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of LNTB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the basis for a differential diagnosis of lymph node tuberculosis and histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis. Methodology: This study selected 85 cases of lymph node tuberculosis (Group A patients) and 26 cases of histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis (Group B patients). The clinical and pathology features on both groups were analysed. Results: The Group A patients were older than the Group B patients (t = 5.233, P < 0.01); The Group B patients had less tuberculosis exposure history (x² = 4.279, P < 0.01), and a higher frequency of tenderness (X² = 8.109, P < 0.01) and fever (x² = 31.923, P < 0.01). The Group A patient group had a higher WBC level (t = 2.980, P < 0.01) and lower serum ALB (t = 5.508, P < 0.01); As seen through ultrasound imaging, Group B patients had more clear boundaries (70.59%), higher low-echo rates (82.36%) and low calcification rates (0%), Group A patients for whom these rates was 25.76%, 40.91% and 25.76% respectively. In terms of pathology data, the main manifestations of Group A patients were granulomatous inflammation with caseous necrosis, multinuclear giant cell reaction, and in some cases, acid-fast bacilli smears (+). In Group B patients, there were instances of coagulative necrosis surrounded by foam-like tissue cells without neutrophil infiltration. Conclusion: We found that the epidemiological history, clinical symptoms, laboratory examinations, ultrasound imaging and changes in pathology are very important for the identification of lymph node tuberculosis and histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB), accounting for 10%–20% of all cases of tuberculosis (TB), is known to be determined by host immunity. However, the contribution of bacterial factors to the development of EPTB has not been studied extensively. Mycolic acids are predominant lipids constituting the cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and keto-mycolic acid is involved in the synthesis of foamy macrophages that facilitate persistence of mycobacteria. Hence, the present study was performed to gain an insight into variable expression of mycolic acids in clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis under stress. Methods: Pansusceptible clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis from patients with lymph node TB (LNTB) (n = 10) and pulmonary TB (PTB) (n = 10) were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) stress, and the expression of mycolic acid and its biosynthetic genes was compared. Any bias arising due to the genotype of the clinical isolates was ruled out by performing single-nucleotide polymorphism cluster grouping (SCG), wherein no significant difference was observed between the SCG of LNTB or PTB isolates. Results: The expression of α-mycolic acid during the exposure to SDS was high in 7/10 (70%) LNTB and 6/10 (60%) PTB isolates. Methoxy mycolic acid showed an increased expression in 7/10 (70%) LNTB isolates and 4/10 (40%) PTB isolates. Increased expression of keto-mycolic acid on exposure with SDS was observed in 8/10 (80%) M. tuberculosis LNTB and 3/10 (30%) PTB isolates. Similarly, the mycolic acid synthesis gene, fas, was upregulated more in LNTB isolates than PTB isolates in vitro and ex vivo. SCG 3a was the most common SCG observed in 40% (8/20) of the isolates, followed by SCG 3b in 30% (6/20) of the isolates. There was no significant difference between the SCG of LNTB or PTB isolates. Conclusion: The higher expression of keto-mycolic acid in LNTB as against PTB isolates may indicate better survival in LNTB isolates in the presence of stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

tuberculosis currently represents a cause of high morbidity and mortality in children, with higher incidence in infants and adolescents. clinical manifestations in children are nonspecific and absent in some cases, which delays diagnosis. the diagnosis of tuberculosis depends on the isolation and microbiological identification and culture of Mycobacterium, which has been reported in 13.5% and 40% respectively, which makes it difficult bacteriological response in infants. We describe the case of a eleven month old infant with chronic malnutrition, admitted due to an adenomegalic syndrome and liquid diarrhea, with nonspecific symptoms, a chest x-ray suggestive of pneumonia, who does not improve with antibiotic therapy. the neck cAt scan with contrast showed bilateral supraclavicular adenomegalies, for which reason other etiological agents were sought. despite negative result for the tuberculin test, antituberculous treatment was initiated, with a favorable clinical course. Final report for Koch bacillus in gastric content and culture were positive for tuberculosis. lymph node pathological study was suggestive of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Paradoxical responses (PR) occur more frequently in lymph node tuberculosis (LNTB) than in pulmonary tuberculosis and present difficulties in differential diagnosis of drug resistance, new infection, poor patient compliance, and adverse drug reactions. Although diagnosis of mediastinal LNTB has become much easier with the development of endosonography, limited information is available. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical course of mediastinal LNTB and the risk factors associated with PR., Methods: Patients diagnosed with mediastinal LNTB via endosonography were evaluated retrospectively between October 2009 and December 2019. Multivariable logistic regression was applied to evaluate the risk factors associated with PR., Results: Of 9,052 patients who underwent endosonography during the study period, 158 were diagnosed with mediastinal LNTB. Of these, 55 (35%) and 41 (26%) concurrently had pulmonary tuberculosis and extrapulmonary tuberculosis other than mediastinal LNTB, respectively. Of 125 patients who completed anti-tuberculosis treatment, 21 (17%) developed PR at a median of 4.4 months after initiation of anti-tuberculosis treatment. The median duration of anti-tuberculosis treatment was 6.3 and 10.4 months in patients without and with PR, respectively. Development of PR was independently associated with age < 55 years (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 5.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.81-18.14; P = 0.003), lymphocyte count < 800/μL (aOR, 8.59; 95% CI, 1.60-46.20; P = 0.012), and short axis diameter of the largest lymph node (LN) ≥ 16 mm (aOR, 5.22; 95% CI, 1.70-16.00; P = 0.004) at the time of diagnosis of mediastinal LNTB., Conclusion: As PR occurred in one of six patients with mediastinal LNTB during anti-tuberculosis treatment, physicians should pay attention to patients with risk factors (younger age, lymphocytopenia, and larger LN) at the time of diagnosis., Competing Interests: The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (© 2023 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.)