POLYMERASE-CHAIN-REACTION IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF PAROTID-GLAND TUBERCULOSIS

A parotid gland mass with presenting features of malignancy is a diagn ostic and therapeutic challenge. The histological nature of the lesion must be clearly determined before proceeding with facial nerve sacrif icing surgery. Although rare, tuberculosis of the parotid gland must b e included in the differential diagnosis of a parotid gland mass espec ially when the social characteristics of the patient suggests a mycoba cterial infection. Primary tuberculosis of the parotid gland is genera lly encountered among populations with a high incidence of pulmonary d isease. The difficulty in the differential diagnosis of a parotid glan d malignancy may be helped by a high degree of clinical suspicion, sin ce laboratory tests generally do not identify the specific causative o rganism. This article reports the first case of parotid gland tubercul osis with clinical and radiodiagnostical features simulating malignanc y in which the diagnosis was confirmed by the polymerase chain reactio n (PCR).