Submucosal tumor-like lesion originating from colon tuberculosis: a case report and review of the literature

A 76-year-old male had a solitary submucosal tumor-like lesion in the sigmoid colon originating from tuberculosis. The lesion, up to 1 cm in diameter, was found incidentally during a routine colonoscopy, which revealed a protuberant submucosal growth with a shallow depression of the overlying mucosa in the center of the tumor. Histologically, the endoscopic biopsy revealed caseating granulomas and infiltration of Langhans giant cells and epithelioid cells, consistent with tuberculosis, were also observed. Five reports of similar lesions from colon tuberculosis were found in a literature review, including the present case. In all cases, the submucosal tumor-like lesions which originated from tuberculosis were small and in an active stage of tuberculosis. Five cases of submucosal tumor-like lesions from gastric tuberculosis were also reported, with characteristics very similar to those of the lesions from colon tuberculosis. Therefore, we propose that lesions originating from tuberculosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of submucosal tumor-like lesions in the colon and stomach.