An unusual presentation of lupus vulgaris in pediatric patient: A clinico-histopathological diagnosis

Lupus vulgaris (LV) is the most common form of cutaneous tuberculosis which usually occurs in patients previously sensitized to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We present a case of a 12 years old boy who was diagnosed as lupus vulgaris clinically as well as histopathologically simultaneously. He had well demarcated, irregularly bordered, pink, infiltrated plaques on the nose showing apple-jelly appearance on diascopy with multiple lymphadenopathy on bilateral submandibular and cervical group of lymph nodes. The histopathological examination showed tuberculoid granulomas with Langhans type giant cells. The Mantoux test showed positive reaction (20 mm) and no acid-fast bacilli was found in the lesion, either by direct stained smears or by culture. The lesions showed significant improvement on anti-tuberculosis treatment. The main purpose of this case report was to emphasize that histopathological examination has diagnostic value in clinical suspicion of LV on face, when direct analysis or culture is negative.