Protean manifestations of gastrointestinal tuberculosis.

We present 11 cases to illustrate the protean presentations of gastrointestinal tuberculosis. The patients presented with perianal fistula, appendicitis, ascites, rectal, intestinal or gastric 'growth', "ulcerative colitis", or recurrent anemia. In some of these cases there was no conclusive proof of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis but they responded well to empirical treatment with anti-tuberculous therapy. These cases illustrate that because signs and symptoms of intestinal tuberculosis are non-specific and even histology can be misleading, the diagnosis of gastrointestinal tuberculosis requires a high index of suspicion. A therapeutic trial of antituberculous drugs should be considered for patients with a high clinical suspicion of tuberculosis.