Intestinal tuberculosis and Crohn's disease: the dilemma of similarities and misdiagnosis.

Differentiating intestinal tuberculosis from Crohn's disease is one of the most difficult and challenging issues for the gastroenterologist, radiologist and pathologist. The final diagnosis of such cases may need the gathering of all clinical, endoscopic, radiological and pathological data. In the following report three cases of intestinal tuberculosis are described. Two of these were initially misdiagnosed as Crohn's disease and the third was thought to be ovarian or colonic cancer; a fourth patient was diagnosed as having Crohn's disease but on presentation was thought to have intestinal tuberculosis. Their clinical presentations, colonoscopic findings, radiological features and the pathological diagnosis are described and the similarities between intestinal tuberculosis and Crohn's disease as compared to previous reports are discussed.