Orbital and adnexal tuberculosis: a case series from a South Indian population

BACKGROUND: Orbital tuberculosis (OTb) is rare and may be regarded as a manifestation of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. We report an interesting case series of six patients with varied presentations of orbital and adnexal tuberculosis in a South Indian patient population. RESULTS: A retrospective, interventional case series of six patients diagnosed with orbital and adnexal tuberculosis on the basis of clinical, radiological and histopathological evaluations between 2010 and 2013 was performed. Among the six patients with histopathologically proven OTb, five were women. The varied presentations included tubercular dacryoadenitis (two cases), classical periostitis (two cases), OTb with bone involvement (one case) and ocular adnexal tuberculosis (one case). Systemic involvement was seen in one case. All cases were treated with a regimen of antitubercular therapy (ATT). CONCLUSIONS: OTb, though rare, should form a part of the differential diagnosis of orbital lesions in a high tuberculosis (TB) endemic country like ours. Biopsy still remains the mainstay of diagnosis.