Abdominal tuberculosis.

The recent literature on abdominal tuberculosis is comprehensively reviewed, and seven cases of abdominal tuberculosis are reported, including four belonging to three generations of the same family. Possible explanations for this familial incidence are discussed. Abdominal tuberculosis is not so rare; 135 cases have recently been reported from the United States and Canada. This review dissipates four common misconceptions: abdominal tuberculosis is rare, tuberculosis is a stigmata of the poor, abdominal tuberculosis is always associated with active pulmonary tuberculosis, and chronic abdominal pathology is synonymous with regional enteritis. Since the description of regional enteritis, more and more cases of chronic intestinal pathology have been labeled "regional enteritis." The fact that intestinal tuberculosis is rather uncommon should not automatically lead to the diagnosis of regional enteritis. The possibility that many cases of so-called regional enteritis may, in fact, be a stage or a variant of abdominal tuberculosis, is worth considering. Abdominal tuberculosis is not a relic of the past. It remains a real challenge to the diagnostic acumen and therapeutic skills of both the internist and the surgeon.