title: Ano-perianal tuberculosis: 15 years of clinical experiences in Southern Taiwan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Ano-perianal tuberculosis (TB) is a rare extrapulmonary form of the disease. Most publications are in case report form. We report our cohort retrospective study on ano-perianal TB, which is one of the very few original reports in the literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over a period of 15 years (January 1992-December 2006), file records revealed cases with confirmed diagnosis of ano-perianal TB after screening from a total of 1251 patients with the diagnosis of TB from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study recruited 17 patients (14 male patients and 3 female patients). The age ranged from 18 to 81 years with a mean age of 44.8 +/- 18.2 years. Thirteen patients had coexistent pulmonary TB (76.5%). Eight patients had at least one concomitant co-morbid illness (47.1%). The most common clinical manifestations were anal fistulae (n = 16). All patients who completed a full course of anti-mycobacterial treatment for at least 6 months after surgical intervention were cured without recurrence except for one patient who was lost to follow-up after 2 months of treatment. Seven of the nine patients with complicated fistulae needed longer anti-mycobacterium treatment duration (9-18 months).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ano-perianal TB should be kept in mind for all patients with prolonged or repeatedly recurrent ano-perianal symptoms and signs such as complicated fistulae in an endemic TB area like Taiwan. Management strategy is with conventional anti-mycobacterium therapy for at least 6 months after surgery. An extension of the anti-mycobacterium treatment course to 9-18 months is mandatory for patients with complicated disease presentations.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University, College of Medicine, Taiwan.
authors.forename: W-C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: T-H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: C-H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H-H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: C-C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: S-K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Chuah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001003:Anal Canal / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D001004:Anus Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014385:Tuberculosis, Gastrointestinal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult