title: Nontuberculous mycobacterial cervical adenitis: a ten-year retrospective review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the authors' institutional experience with nontuberculous mycobacterial cervical adenitis in children over a 10-year period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective chart review.
  
  
  METHODS
  The case histories of 79 children with nontuberculous mycobacterial lymphadenitis who presented to a large tertiary care referral center from 1989 to 1999 were retrospectively analyzed, and the demographics, clinical presentation, methods of diagnosis, and types of surgical intervention they underwent were reported.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age at presentation was 3.6 years. The male-to-female ratio was 1:2, and the frequency of presentation was highest in the winter and spring months. The diagnosis was not immediately apparent to most primary health care physicians because there was a delay between the appearance of the lump and referral for treatment, which was in excess of 8 weeks. Involved nodes were mainly treated surgically. The recurrence rate of complete surgical resection was less than 1%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study highlights the fact that a high index of clinical suspicion is needed to make an early diagnosis of nontuberculous mycobacterial lymphadenitis and lends further weight to the already existing evidence that surgical excision remains the mainstay of successful treatment for lymphadenitis caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jaswinder
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Panesar
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Higgins
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Daya
authors.forename: Vito
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Forte
authors.forename: Upton
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Allen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008199:Lymphadenitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009164:Mycobacterium Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D009333:Neck; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome