title: Cervical mycobacterial lymphadenitis. Medical vs surgical management.
abstract: After years in its decrease, cervical mycobacterial adenitis is once again an increasing problem in Los Angeles County. We reviewed 54 cases of cervical lymphadenopathies treated over ten years. Twenty-five (46%) of these patients were found to have mycobacterial cervical lymphadenitis. Medical approaches often failed to conclusively diagnose this disease. In our series, none of the patients with cervical adenopathies (36%) treated only medically regressed, even after an average time of 18 months of antituberculosis drug treatment. The treatment of choice seems to be surgical excision and long-term antituberculosis drugs. Surgery provides a rapid tissue diagnosis and confirms the bacterial type, including atypical mycobacterium. This approach is simple, shortens hospitalization, is cost-effective, and carries a low morbidity.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009165:Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery; D009333:Neck; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014388:Tuberculosis, Lymph Node / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents