title: Polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis of parotid gland tuberculosis.
abstract: A parotid gland mass with presenting features of malignancy is a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. The histological nature of the lesion must be clearly determined before proceeding with facial nerve sacrificing surgery. Although rare, tuberculosis of the parotid gland must be included in the differential diagnosis of a parotid gland mass especially when the social characteristics of the patient suggests a mycobacterial infection. Primary tuberculosis of the parotid gland is generally encountered among populations with a high incidence of pulmonary disease. The difficulty in the differential diagnosis of a parotid gland malignancy may be helped by a high degree of clinical suspicion, since laboratory tests generally do not identify the specific causative organism. This article reports the first case of parotid gland tuberculosis with clinical and radiodiagnostical features simulating malignancy in which the diagnosis was confirmed by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Dokuz Eylül University Medical School, Izmir, Turkey. gunerie@cs.med.deu.edu.tr
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Güneri
authors.forename: A O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Ikiz
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Atabey
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Izci
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sütay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010305:Parotid Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis*