Lee Ing-Kit, Liu Jien-Wei
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical Center, Taiwan.
Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2005 Jul;114(7):547-51. doi: 10.1177/000348940511400710.
Our aim was to better understand the rarely encountered tuberculous (TB) parotitis.
A case of TB parotitis is reported, and the literature is reviewed.
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.
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.
