Six Cases of Cervical Mycobacterial Lymphadenitis and a Case of Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterial Infection of the Parotid Gland-Recent Trends in Mycobacterial Infection-

We encountered 6 cases of cervical mycobacterial lymphadenitis and a case of non-tuberculous mycobacterial infection of the parotid gland over a 19-month period. The incidence of mycobacterial infection is currently increasing among elderly persons and foreign workers who are socially vulnerable, and cervical mycobacterial lymphadenitis is no exception to that trend.Six of our 7 cases were over 60 years old and the mean patient age was 75.7 years, the remaining one case was a young foreign worker. In the latter case, multiple lymphadenopathies were noted on the first examination and 6-months of oral antibiotic administration resulted in only partial improvement.Cervical mycobacterial infection can present in many forms depending on the stage of the disease. Regarding diagnostic methods, although an accurate diagnosis was easily reached by tuberculous DNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in cases showing abscess formation, clinical diagnosis was delayed in atypical cases not presenting with neck abscess and excisional biopsies were needed. The clinical courses of these cases are presented along with a review of the literature.