Primary Laryngeal Tuberculosis

Primary laryngeal tuberculosis is rare. It can manifest as a malignancy delaying the diagnosis and the therapeutic management. We report the case of a 34-year-old immunocompetent man whose plaints were fever, sweat and dysphonia. There were no adenopathy, nor hepatosplenomegaly. Several blood cultures were negative. Laboratory studies showed an inflammatory syndrome. In addition, the bacteriological examinations of sputum and urine in search of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were negative. Laryngoscopy confirmed the presence of a thickness of the right vocal cord and an ulcer in the hemilarynx. The histological examination revealed tuberculoid granulomas suggestive of tuberculosis. The culture from vocal cord tissue for Mycobacterium tuberculosis was positive. No other focus of tuberculosis was found on X-ray and computed tomography. Treatment by a combination of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide induced a total resolution of symptoms.