Macronodular hepatic tuberculosis necessitating hepatic resection: a diagnostic conundrum

The local form of hepatic tuberculosis with no clinical extrapulmonary manifestations is relatively rare. Hepatic tuberculosis lesions that appear as masses larger than 2 mm in diameter are referred to as macronodular and pseudotumoural tuberculosis. In individual patients, lesions may be single or multiple. On the basis of imaging examinations alone, these lesions are virtually indistinguishable from many other focal lesions of the liver, such as hepatocellular carcinoma, metastases and Hodgkin's disease, so pathological examination is necessary for diagnosis.1