Tuberculosis of the Tongue

Tuberculosis of the tongue is considered one of the rare manifestations of tuberculosis in the human body. Medical literature contains a few good articles on this subject. Dermatologic textbooks ignore it. A perusal of the indexes of our standard dermatologic textbooks does not reveal the name. In the differential diagnosis of other tongue conditions, it is not mentioned. We think that it is not as rare as the literature would lead us to believe, and we feel certain that the difficulties encountered in the diagnosis of tuberculosis of the tongue, especially in primary tuberculosis of the tongue, warrant some space and thought in dermatologic textbooks. The first authentic case of this disease was reported by Portal,1in 1804. Morgagni,2in 1761, described a patient with tubercles on the tongue, but he does not define the word "tubercle" as he uses it. It is with considerable pride that we