title: Idiopathic eosinophilic parotitis in an eight-year-old boy: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A number of medical conditions, some of them recently reported, are associated with an increased production of eosinophils. We report the first case of eosinophilic parotitis in the literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patient was an eight-year-old Caucasian boy who presented with a two-year history of recurring acute parotitis with no fever. He had had a total of five episodes with no response to antibiotics, but remission had been achieved with oral corticosteroid therapy. We performed allergy tests for inhalant and food allergens and for haptens, but the results were all negative. The results of echography ruled out sialodochitis. Instead, a swab from the parotid duct led to the detection of a high number of eosinophils.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This report is first in the literature to describe a case of eosinophilic parotitis, and we suggest that a cytological assessment, which is quite simple yet rarely used by physicians, be performed when patients with parotitis of uncertain origin are under evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Pediatrics, University Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties and Public Health, Perugia, Italy. francofrati@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Frati
authors.forename: Rachele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boccardo
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scurati
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gelardi
authors.forename: Cristoforo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Incorvaia