Congenital tuberculosis: Under diagnosed or under reported?

Sonographic diagnosis of congenital tuberculosis: an experience with four cases

“…Although a rare entity, Matthai et al [3] believed that a large number of cases of congenital tuberculosis may have been underdiagnosed or underreported in endemic countries.…”

“…Tubercular infection during fetal life may occur from the infected placenta through the umbilical vein to form a primary complex in the liver [1,3,9]. Alternatively, ingestion or aspiration of infected amniotic fluid may result in a primary complex in the gastrointestinal tract or the lungs, respectively [1,9].…”

“…Although other investigators, namely Matthai et al [3] and Foo et al [5], have performed abdominal sonography in their cases of congenital tuberculosis with hepatomegaly, the utility of ultrasound as a diagnostic modality has not been emphasized. We highlight the role of sonography as a primary diagnostic modality for congenital tuberculosis based on our experience in four infants with hepatomegaly.…”

“…Although approximately 300 cases have been reported in the world literature, the majority of these are isolated case reports [1][2][3][4]. A high mortality exists for this entity even in the modern chemotherapeutic era, and the diagnosis has been established only at autopsy, even in recent years [5][6][7].…”

Congenital Tuberculosis

“…Despite high prevalence of tuberculosis in women of child bearing age, only few cases of congenital tuberculosis have been reported [1], probably the frequency is under estimated as the clinical presentations are variable and a clinician may overlook the diagnosis unless one specifically looks for definite clues [2,3]. The importance of early diagnosis and treatment is crucial considering non specific nature of presentation and high mortality associated with it.…”