From the time of Hippocrates, Tuberculosis was known as phthisis, a term derived from the Greek language which means “decaying”. There is no more dangerous disease than pulmonary phthisis; no other is so common. It destroys a very great part of the human race. Antoine Portal, Paris, 1832 The swollen glands of the neck were known as scrofula and the King’s evil. Although Tuberculosis (TB) is essentially a medical disease, a sizeable proportion of patients fall into the realm of surgery, may it be due to the primary disease or its sequelae. TB was the leading cause of death in the 17th century. Patients were nursed in sanatoriums and treated with plenty of sunlight and good food. Surgery then became widely prevalent as a treatment modality, and Pulmonary Tuberculosis (TB) became the history of thoracic surgery.
TUBERCULOSIS – RECRUDESCENCE OF THORACIC SURGERY
