Gastric tuberculosis presenting as a submucosal tumor

Abstract

Gastric tuberculosis is a rare entity that usually occurs in association with pulmonary tuberculosis or tuberculosis elsewhere in the GI tract. Diagnosis is extremely difficult, because gastric tuberculosis usually is unsuspected. Most commonly, gastric tuberculosis presents as an ulcerating lesion on the lesser curvature of the antrum. Thus, the clinical picture is similar to that of peptic ulcer disease. Gastric tuberculosis was first described by Barhausen in 1824. 1 Walters W. Kirklin B.R. Clagett O.T. Tuberculosis of the stomach. Proc Staff Meet Mayo Clin. 1936; 11: 83-85 Google Scholar Only a few cases have been reported in Korea since Suh et al., 2 Suh S.I. Song Y.T. Kim K.T. Kim I.C. Gastric tuberculosis. J Korean Surg Soc. 1971; 13: 83-86 Google Scholar in 1971, described a case of gastric tuberculosis presenting as a malignant gastric ulcer. Presentation of GI tuberculosis as a submucosal tumor is especially rare. This report describes a case of gastric tuberculosis in which the lesion was thought to be a submucosal tumor.