Flexor tendon synovitis of the hand as first manifestation of atypical tuberculosis.

We present the case of a 73-year old patient suffering from chronic flexor tendon synovitis of the wrist with carpal tunnel syndrome. He underwent synovectomy and median nerve release. Primary bacteriology was negative. Histology of the excised synovia revelead non-caseating granuloma as typical for sarcoidosis. Further screening for sarcoidosis was negative. Culture of a sample harvested from the poorly healing wound was finally positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculostatic treatment was started and the wound gradually healed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of atypical non-caseating and sarcoidosis-like granulomas of the flexor tendon synovia of the hand as first manifestation of tuberculosis.