title: [Ileus as a manifestation of intestinal tuberculosis].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  'Intestinal tuberculosis' is sometimes difficult to diagnose. The symptoms are non-specific and there is an extensive differential diagnosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 27-year-old man from Pakistan presented at the emergency department with a history of constipation, weight loss and abdominal pain. An abdominal CT scan revealed dilated small bowel loops, lymphadenopathy and a thickened intestinal wall of the terminal ileum. Cultures of a cervical lymph node biopsy tested positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis: intestinal tuberculosis. The man eventually recovered after treatment with tuberculostatics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most sensitive methods for establishing the diagnosis 'intestinal tuberculosis' are an abdominal CT scan and a colonoscopy with ileal and colonic biopsies; establishing the diagnosis can be challenging as a result of non-specific test results.
authors.affiliation: Sint Lucas Andreas Ziekenhuis, Afd. Maag-, darm- en leverziekten, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. frank.hoentjen@uchospitals.edu
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hoentjen
authors.forename: Pieter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Stokkers
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Veenstra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D045823:Ileus / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014385:Tuberculosis, Gastrointestinal / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014388:Tuberculosis, Lymph Node / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents