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Eponyms in Tuberculosis (TB)

Tuberculosis (TB) is a multi-systemic, granulomatous disease caused by the bacilli Mycobacterium tuberculosis which is also known as Koch’s bacillus.

Primary Pulmonary Tuberculosis

1. Ghon focus or lesion: Subpleural fibro-caseous lesion of lung parenchyma (common site is upper part of lower lobe or lower part of upper lobe)

2. Ghon’s complex: Ghon focus + Surrounding lymph node involvement

Basem Abbas Al Ubaidi, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

3. Ranke complex: Calcification & Fibrosis of Ghon’s complex

Post-primary (Reactivation or Reinfection) Pulmonary Tuberculosis

1. Simon’s focus: Hematogenous spread to apex of upper lobe and resultant apical fibrosis

2. Assman focus: Infra-clavicular foci or infiltrates due to reactivation of Simon’s focus

3. Puhl’s lesion or nodule: Supra-clavicular foci (apical lung) lesion from re-infection

Miliary Primary Tuberculosis

1. Weigert focus: Subintimal caseating metastatic focus in pulmonary vein wall

2. Rich focus: Tuberculous granuloma in brain cortex that ruptures into subarachnoid space

3. Simmond’s focus: Tubercular foci in liver

Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis

1. Pott’s spine: Spine tuberculosis (Tubercular spondylitis)

2. Poncet’s disease: Aseptic reactive arthritis in patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis

3. Koenig’s syndrome: Intestinal tuberculosis

Others

1. Rassmussen’s aneurysm: Pulmonary artery aneurysm adjacent to or within a tuberculous cavity

2. Langhan’s giant cells: Multinucleated giant cells in tubercular granuloma

3. Ziehl-Neelsen stain: Acid fast staining

4. Mantoux test: Screening tool for tuberculosis

Reference and further reading: Saldanha, Prema; Saldanha, Julian1. Eponyms in Tuberculosis. Archives of Medicine and Health Sciences 4(2):p 287-289, Jul–Dec 2016. | DOI: 10.4103/2321-4848.196199

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