CASE REPORT article
Front. Med.
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Pathogenesis and Therapy
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1622794
Diagnosis and Management of Splenic Tuberculosis: A Case Report and Literature Review
Provisionally accepted- 1Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Central Hospital of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Enshi, China
- 2Southern Medical University, guangzhou, China
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Splenic tuberculosis is a rare form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, that is often caused by hematogenous dissemination. A 53-year-old female presented with multiple enlarged lymph nodes and a splenic mass identified during a routine health check. Imaging revealed widespread lymphadenopathy and multiple splenic nodules, raising suspicion for lymphoma. The laboratory findings showed an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate and mild liver function abnormalities, with no significant tumor markers or inflammatory indicators. Histopathology of lymph node and splenic biopsies revealed granulomas with epithelioid cells and multinucleated giant cells. Acid-fast staining confirmed the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, indicating the presence of splenic tuberculosis. The patient was treated with a standard anti-tuberculosis regimen and adjunctive hepatoprotective therapy, resulting in clinical improvement, and was discharged in stable condition. This case underscores the diagnostic challenges of splenic tuberculosis due to its nonspecific presentation and highlights the importance of histopathological evaluation for timely diagnosis and treatment.
Keywords: Splenic tuberculosis, Extrapulmonary tuberculosis, Granuloma, histopathology, case report
Received: 04 May 2025; Accepted: 04 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Liu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Peijun Liu, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Central Hospital of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Enshi, China
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