[The current status and problems of the intestinal tuberculosis through a review of the Annual of the Pathological Autopsy Cases in Japan].

Abstract

From 1997 to 1999 the incidence rate of tuberculosis increased and extrapulmonary tuberculosis has also increased during the same period. Among various types of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, intestinal tuberculosis is one of the diseases difficult to diagnose. Recently doctors could not make appropriate diagnosis of intestinal tuberculosis because they did not pay much attention to tuberculosis. With a background described above, we reviewed the Annual of the Pathological Autopsy Cases in Japan in previous five years 1994-1998, in order to investigate a current status of intestinal tuberculosis. Out of 140,358 autopsied cases, the number of cases with active and old tuberculosis was 5,103 (3.6%), in which the intestinal tuberculosis was accompanied in 80 (0.057%). The 80 cases were consisting of 45 males and 35 females and their mean age was 72.7 years old ranging from 28 to 96. Of the 80 intestinal tuberculosis cases, 71 were seen in pulmonary tuberculosis cases and six cases were considered to be intestinal tuberculosis alone. In terms of the location of intestinal tuberculosis the most commonly affected site was ileocecum which occupied 72.7% of all intestinal tuberculosis. Among the 80 cases, 14 cases were complicated with malignant tumor and only 30 cases (37.5%) were diagnosed clinically as intestinal tuberculosis before their death. Clinical diagnosis of other cases were ileus, simple constipation, severe diarrhea, malignant tumor or its tumor. The delay in diagnosing intestinal tuberculosis may result in fatal outcome in the aged persons, so that in general practice much attention should be paid not only to pulmonary but also extrapulmonary tuberculosis including intestinal tuberculosis.