Report of simultaneous occurrence of scrofuloderma, Bazin’s indurated erythema and papulonecrotic tuberculid on an immunocompetent patient.

Abstract

Study: Case Report Importance: Tuberculosis is a serious health problem in Brazil. Nevertheless, only few physicians know how to identify the non-pulmonary cases of this disease, which can represent up to 23,3% of deaths caused by tuberculosis in Brazil. Among the non-pulmonary cases, only 1-2% affect the skin. It is important for the general physician to understand the cutaneous presentations of tuberculosis, once it can be the only symptom that the patient presents. Diagnosing cutaneous tuberculosis is a challenge, because traditional laboratory tests have smaller sensitivity and specificity for the cutaneous form in contrast to pulmonary tuberculosis. However, implementation of new exams such as GeneXpert may come in hand. Comments: We report a rare case of cutaneous tuberculosis on an immunocompetent patient, with three different simultaneous presentations - scrofuloderma, papulonecrotic tuberculids and Bazin's indurated erythema. Occurrence of two simultaneous presentations has been reported, however, three simultaneous forms have not. Diagnosing this atypical manifestation was very hard because the clinical presentation often mimics other dermatological conditions, and traditional laboratory testing such as chest X-ray, bacilloscopy and culture did not evidence infection. Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was only possible due to positive PCR testing through GeneXpert on pulmonary and scrofuloderma fluids, allowing rapid treatment initiation. This new high sensitivity and specificity exam proved to be of great value when diagnosing this atypical cutaneous tuberculosis case, in which diagnose was not possible through traditional laboratory testing.