Navigating Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis: A Case Series from a Tertiary Care Facility Highlighting Rare Presentations, Diagnostic Challenges, Drug Resistance, and Therapeutic Complexities.

Background: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EP-TB) constitutes one-fifth of all tuberculosis (TB) cases. EP-TB mimics common infections which pose diagnostic dilemma, requires extensive diagnostics that culminate into therapeutic delay often resulting in irrational and empirical institution of antitubercular therapy (ATT) in challenging cases. This supplemented by poor treatment compliance resulted in emergence of Drug-resistant (DR) strains of EP-TB which further impedes the path to recovery.

Study of Diagnostic Yield of Nucleic Acid Amplification Test among Tuberculous Cervical Lymphadenitis in Immunocompetent Patients.

Background: The most common form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is tuberculous lymphadenitis, which constitutes about 30-40% of all extrapulmonary TB cases. A new diagnostic method like the nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) is a very sensitive and rapid test for diagnosing tuberculous cervical lymphadenopathy. It also detects rifampicin sensitivity among positive patients.