Review for 10.1186/s12876-020-01420-x (2020)

Reviewer’ s report
Title: Left-sided portal hypertension caused by peripancreatic lymph node tuberculosis
misdiagnosed as pancreatic cancer: a case report and literature review
Version: 0Date: 29 May 2020
Reviewer's report:
In their recent manuscript "Left-sided portal hypertension caused by peripancreatic lymph node
tuberculosis misdiagnosed as pancreatic cancer: a case report and literature review", Yu et al.presented a case report of a 29-year-old woman suffering from abdominal tuberculosis whichbecame evident by left-sided portal hypertension and consecutive repeated hematemesis and blackstool. Although the author presented a very interesting case, some revision should be made beforeaccepting the manuscript in BMC Gastroenterology.1.The author wrote, that the patients suffered from pancreatic cancer without further informationof the treatment. Here, it would be interesting to know, which oncological treatment the patientsreceived. Although the author mentioned that only few information was available it would beimportant to know if surgery was performed or of the patient received chemotherapy or any other(oncological) immunemodulated treatment which might ease spreading tuberculosis into theabdomen. Additionally, the author is encouraged to be more detailed regarding additional therapyand outcome of the patient.
2.Although the review of the literature is very interesting and well written, it would be interesting
to provide more date of prevalence of intra-abdominal tuberculosis and its risk to be misdiagnosednot even as pancreatic cancer but also as other gastrointestinal disorders or malignancies. Forinstance, the author wrote that "Due to all of these factors, peripancreatic lymph node tuberculosis
is frequently misdiagnosed as pancreatic cancer." Here, it would be interesting to provide a deeper
overview of "frequently".
3.The increasing incidence of tuberculosis did not only affect developing countries but also more
and more Western countries. Maybe it would also be valuable to point out an increasingprevalence of tuberculosis in western countries and thereby also an increasing risk to bemisdiagnosed.
4.The author is encouraged to present the manuscript to a native speaker.
Are the methods appropriate and well described?
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.
YesDoes the work include the necessary controls?
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.
Unable to assess
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.
YesAre you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an
additional statistical review?
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further
assessment in your comments to the editors.
Not relevant to this manuscriptQuality of written English
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:
Needs some language corrections before being publishedDeclaration of competing interests
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