Frontal bone tuberculosis presenting with blindness in a 14-year-old girl: a case report

INTRODUCTION: The occurrence of tuberculosis in the flat bones of the skull is very rare. Only eight cases of tuberculosis of the frontal bone have been reported in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION: A 14-year-old girl of Asian ethnicity presented with gradual loss of vision. A computed tomography scan of her head showed a diffuse, homogeneously ill-defined hyperdense lesion of size 2.9 × 5.3 cm (anteroposterior × thickness) involving the right orbit. Biopsy of the lesion confirmed the presence of epithelioid cells and Langerhans giant cells with caseous material. After surgical debridement with antitubercular treatment, the patient had an uneventful recovery. CONCLUSION: Although rare, tuberculosis can affect the flat bones of the skull. Tuberculosis of the frontal bone can be included in the differential diagnosis of blindness.