Unusual Tuberculosis of the Frontal Bone: A Case Report

Abstract

Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria that can affect almost any part of the body, especially in lung. Tuberculosis of the bones is not an unusual condition. However, the occurrence of tuberculosis of the skull is much less compared with the other bones. We report a 19-year-old man exhibiting swelling of the scalp and a bony defect of the skull caused by irregular anti-tuberculosis treatment. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis of right upper lung and underwent the anti-tuberculosis treatment for about 20 days in the local contagious hospital. However, he did not adhere to anti-TB treatment due to feeling better after anti-tuberculosis treatment. He had to receive anti-tuberculous chemotherapy again and underwent surgery after the occurrence of the tuberculosis of frontal bone. Fortunately, the patient completed 9 months of anti-tuberculous therapy and fully recovered. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the tuberculosis of frontal bone caused by irregular anti-tuberculosis treatment.