Mycobacterium abscessus cervical lymphadenitis: An immunocompetent child

Nontuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) is one of the well-known causes of cervicofacial lymphadenopathy in children under 5 years of age. Children often present with a painless cervical mass that fails to respond to conventional antibiotics. They are often referred under the suspicion of a neoplasm or bacterial adenitis rather than NTM cervical lymphadenitis. The lack of systemic symptoms, modest or negative purified protein derivative test and absence of exposure to active tuberculosis are characteristics of NTM lymphadenitis. The diagnosis usually requires the isolation of pathogen or pathologic proof. Complete excision is the choice of treatment by the majority of authors in the literature. This not only enables rapid diagnosis but ensures the lowest recurrence rate. Medical management is sometimes successful when complete resection is impossible or refused. To our knowledge, the incidence of NTM cervical lymphadenitis in children is increasing throughout the world. However, such reports of children in Taiwan is lacking. Clinicians should suspect a possible nontuberculous mycobacterial infection when a cervical lump is found in a child.