Superficial tuberculous lymphadenitis in Merseyside: 1969-1984.

The aetiology, epidemiology and clinical presentation of 137 bacteriologically confirmed cases of superficial mycobacterial lymphadenitis identified at the Liverpool Public Health Laboratory between 1969 and 1984 were reviewed. Despite a fall in pulmonary and total extrapulmonary isolates, the annual recovery of mycobacteria from lymph nodes remained relatively constant. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was the cause of infection in 121 patients (88.3%), M. bovis in 6 and the remaining 10 isolates were atypical mycobacteria. In European patients (68.6%) the highest incidence was in the elderly, whereas in non-Europeans (31.4%) the disease almost exclusively occurred in the third and fourth decades. The proportion of isolates from non-Europeans reflected the size of the immigrant population and increased during the period of study.