A Case of Nasopharyngeal Tuberculosis Which Was Difficult to Differentiate From Sarcoidosis

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal mass is a disease that can cause unilateral or bilateral nasal obstruction. Common diseases that can cause nasal obstruction include antrochoanal polyp, adenoid remnants, juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Nasopharyngeal tuberculosis and nasopharyngeal sarcoidosis are two rare diseases that involve the nasopharynx and manifest as nasopharyngeal mass, and they share common histopathologic findings of granulomatous inflammation. We report a case where a patient complaining of nasal obstruction was found with nasopharyngeal mass with smooth surface, which was difficult to differentiate nasopharyngeal tuberculosis from nasopharyngeal sarcoidosis due to similar clinical manifestations and histopathologic findings.

Two Cases of Primary Nasopharyngeal Tuberculosis

“…Therefore, NPTB is a disease that can be met at the first diagnosis by specialists in otology, rhinology, and head and neck surgery. It often takes a considerable amount of time from the initial patient visit to the definitive diagnosis because NPTB mostly presents atypical manifestations and gross lesion can be confused from other nasopharyngeal necrotic diseases like nasopharyngeal cancer, lymphoma, granulomatosis with polyangitis, angiofibroma, fungal infection, sarcoidosis, periarteritis nodosa, leprosy, syphilis, and Castleman's disease [5,6]. In most cases, it is known that a histological biopsy is standard for diagnosis because it is difficult to differentiate it from other necrotic mucosal diseases using only clinical features, radiological tests, and endoscopic examination [7].…”