Abstract

Esophageal tuberculosis is a rare disease that is difficult to diagnose with esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), and computerized tomography. The patients with esophageal tuberculosis show diverse endoscopic findings, but ulcerative lesion in the middle esophagus is usually found. In Korea, the endoscopic ultrasonographic findings of esophageal tuberculosis have not been described. The main endoscopic ultrasonographic findings of esophageal tuberculosis include heterogeneous or homogeneous hypoechoic masses in the esophageal wall with hyperechoic spots inside, interruption of the esophageal adventitia, and mediastinal lymphadenopathy. In this report, we describe two patients with esophageal tuberculosis, and they presented with submucosal tumor. In these patients, esophageal tuberculosis was diagnosed by EGD, EUS, and performing tuberculosis phase chain reaction on the endoscopic biopsies. (Korean J Gastrointest Endosc 2010;40:312-315)

• Keywords: Tuberculosis, Esophagus, Submucosal tumor, Endoscopic ultrasonography