Tuberculous parotitis: case report and literature review.
OBJECTIVE
Our aim was to better understand the rarely encountered tuberculous (TB) parotitis.


METHODS
A case of TB parotitis is reported, and the literature is reviewed.


RESULTS
Forty-nine patients (27 men, 22 women; mean age, 38.3 +/- 16.4 years) were enrolled. The median duration of symptoms before these patients sought medical help was 6 months. Except for 1 patient with bilateral TB parotitis, all had unilateral involvement; complications included draining sinuses in 4 patients (8%) and facial palsy in 2 patients (4%). Twenty-one of 36 patients (58%) had a painless parotid mass, 12 of 19 (63%) had cervical lymphadenitis, 8 of 11 (73%) had fever, and 11 of 44 (25%) had pulmonary tuberculosis (4 active and 7 inactive cases). Neoplasm was the most common presumptive diagnosis. The diagnosis of TB parotitis in most cases was made on the basis of cytologic analysis of the fine-needle aspirate or histopathologic analysis of the excised tissue. Forty-six patients with TB parotitis who had a traceable outcome survived after 6 to 10 months of antituberculosis chemotherapy.


CONCLUSIONS
Physicians should have a high index of suspicion for TB parotitis in patients with a chronic parotid lump, even if the chest radiographs appear normal. Fine-needle aspiration should be performed first for diagnosis, and TB parotitis should be medically treated.
Lee
Ing-Kit
IK
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical Center, Taiwan.
Liu
Jien-Wei
JW
D000368:Aged; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010309:Parotitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D014393:Tuberculosis, Oral / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy