Stridor in a well-thriving young infant: Rare manifestation of a common disease.

Abstract

Infantile stridor is a rare presentation of tuberculous lymphadenopathy. We describe a fully immunized, immunocompetent 4-month-old male without known family contact, presenting with chronic stridor and tachypnea. Contrast-enhanced CT revealed right upper lobe consolidation and hilar lymphadenopathy compressing the bronchus. Gastric aspirate CBNAAT confirmed rifampicin-sensitive Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Six months of anti-tubercular therapy yielded complete clinico-radiological recovery. This case provides a critical clinical alert: clinicians must suspect tuberculosis in infants with atypical airway symptoms, even when they are immunocompetent and lack adult contact or classic pulmonary features, particularly in highly endemic regions like India.