Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2003. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 15, 2003; 9(10): 2382-2384
Published online Oct 15, 2003. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v9.i10.2382
Massive gastrointestinal tubercolsis in a young patient without immunosupression
Yasar Settbas, Murat Alper, Yusuf Akcan, Yesim Gurbuz, Sükrü Oksuz
Yasar Settbas, Resident, A.I.B.U. Duzce Medical Faculty, Department of Internal Medicine, Duzce, Turkey
Murat Alper, Assistant professor, A.I.B.U. Duzce Medical Faculty, Department of Pathology, Duzce, Turkey
Yusuf Akcan, Assistant professor, A.I.B.U. Duzce Medical Faculty, Department of Internal Medicine, Duzce, Turkey
Yesim Gurbuz, Assistant professor, Kocaeli University Medical Faculty, Department of Pathology, Duzce, Turkey
Sükrü Oksuz, Resident, A.I.B.U. Duzce Medical Faculty, Department of Microbiology
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Yasar Settbas, M.D., Abant Izzet Baysal University Duzce Medical Faculty Department of internal Medicine, 14450, Konuralp, Duzce, Turkey. ysertbas@hotmail.com
Telephone: +90-380-5414107 Fax: +90-380-5414105
Received: October 17, 2002
Revised: November 2, 2002
Accepted: November 9, 2002
Published online: October 15, 2003
Abstract

Although the lung is the major site for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, gastrointestinal involvement can be present as part of multiorgan disease process or, less commenly, can be seen as primary gastrointestinal tuberculosis. In the cases where the culture is negative, it can be difficult to differantiate tuberculosis from Crohn’s disease based on both the clinical and histological features. When side effects of classic antimycobacteria are encountered, we can initially add ciprofloxacin to the treatment of tuberculosis. We reported a case of 19-yr-old patient, who was treated as Crohn’s disease and worsen. We began to tuberculosis treatment, and the patient improved clinically and histologically. The main point in this case is that widespread involvement of gastrointestinal tract can be brought about by non resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis even in immunocompetent patients.

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