The presentation of tuberculosis as an isolated parotid lump is rare.
In this paper, six cases with tuberculous parotitis are reported which
were evaluated as a benign parotid neoplasm in 216 specimens pre-oper
atively. All but one of them had no previous history of tuberculosis a
nd all had a parotid lump as a sole symptom for at least one year. The
diagnosis of tuberculosis was made, after superficial parotidectomy,
by histopathology. Parenchymal involvement and intraparotid lymph node
involvement with tuberculosis were seen in five and three patients, r
espectively. Two of the patients had lymph node involvement outside th
e parotid area. One of six patients had a coincidental Warthin tumour.
A surgical approach is not only therapeutic but also diagnostic when
other diagnostic tools fail.