Abstract
Advances in antibiotics and the development of preventive medicine have led to a significant decrease in the number of tuberculosis patients.
In the field of head and neck surgery, therefore, tuberculosis is rarely encountered. We report a case of tuberculous sialoadenitis of the submandibular gland. A 48-year-old female presented with a left submandibular swelling. On palpation, the swelling was hard but slightly mobile. A diagnosis was made as an abscess of the left submandibular gland and was treated at first with broad spectrum antibiotics. Because of no improvement of the swelling, however, a malignant tumor was suspected. Since computed tomography revealed a submandibular gland tumor, we resected the lesion. Pathological examination resulted in a diagnosis of tuberculous sialoadenitis of the submandibular gland. Treatment by antituber-oculotics was started, after which the patient's corse was uneventful.
