Tuberculous common bile duct stricture mimicking a cholangiocarcinoma: A case report

Biliary involvement during abdominal tuberculosis is extremely uncommon and represents a challenging diagnosis that can easily be mistaken for a malignant etiology. We report the case of a 40 years old male who presented with anorexia, chronic abdominal pain, and progressive obstructive jaundice. Abdominal computed tomography demonstrated distal narrowing with wall thickening of the main biliary duct, along with enlarged lymph nodes and signs of portal hypertension. Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging showed a long distal biliary stricture, suggestive of malignancy, with dilated intrahepatic radicles. The diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma was initially suggested. However, given his young age and other imaging findings, the patient underwent laparoscopic biopsy which revealed epithelioid cell granuloma with caseating necrosis consistent with tuberculous origin.

Tuberculous biliary stricture

Tuberculosis (TB) of the hepatobiliary system is not uncommon, but as a cause of biliary strictures, it is very rare. It poses difficulty in diagnosis and often requires surgical intervention to exclude underlying malignancy. To our knowledge, there are fewer than 20 reported cases in the English literature. We report a 35-year-old Filipino woman who presented with a 3-day history of obstructive jaundice, associated with significant weight loss and anorexia. Computed tomography (CT) revealed dilated intrahepatic biliary system secondary to distal stricture at the confluence of the left and right bile ducts. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography characterised the lesion as an irregular stricturing at several sites in the common bile duct. Incidentally, the scans also showed indeterminate pulmonary nodules in the right lower lobes. CT thorax confirmed bilateral involvement of the lungs. She required percutaneous transhepatic drainage for biliary decompression. Tests on tissue from the lung lesions, the blood, and the bile all confirmed the presence of TB. She was treated with anti-TB medication. This report emphasizes the importance of considering TB as a possibile cause of biliary stricture, especially in South-East Asia.

Biliary tuberculosis causing cicatricial stenosis after oral anti-tuberculosis therapy

A 36-year-old Philippine woman presented with dark urine and yellow sclera. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) confirmed dilatation of the intrahepatic bile ducts and also showed an irregular stricture of the common hepatic duct at the liver hilum. Histological examination of biopsies from the bile duct revealed epithelioid cell granulomas and caseous necrosis. Tubercle bacilli were then detected on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of the bile, giving the diagnosis of biliary tuberculosis. Although microbiological cure was confirmed, the patient developed cicatricial stenosis of the hepatic duct. She underwent repeated treatments with endoscopic biliary drainage (EBD) tubes and percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) tubes, and the stenosis was corrected after 6 years. We present a case of tuberculous biliary stricture, a condition that requires careful differentiation from the more common malignancies and needs long-term follow-up due to the risk of post-treatment cicatricial stenosis, although it is rare.