What Is the Best Treatment for Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Cervical Lymphadenitis?

NTM cervical lymphadenitis resolved in 6 to 12 months in 100% of 92 children who did not undergo lymph node excision.

Nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection occasionally causes chronic cervical lymphadenitis in otherwise healthy children. Therapeutic options are limited. In a case series from Israel, investigators followed 92 children (median age, 18 months; 90% had single affected nodes) with biopsy-proven NTM; none underwent excision of the affected nodes.

All 92 children had received antibiotic therapy before diagnosis. In 84 children, affected lymph nodes exhibited purulent discharge for 3 to 5 weeks after biopsy samples had been taken. At 6 months, 65 cases had resolved; at 12 months, all cases had resolved. Flat skin-colored scars were noted in the drainage areas at 2-year follow-up.

Reviewing Author

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

What Is the Best Treatment for Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Cervical Lymphadenitis?

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Reviewing Author