Nontuberculous mycobacterial adenitis of childhood. The ten-year experience at a community hospital
R. P. Spark, M. L. Fried, C. K. Bean, J. M. Figueroa, C. P. Crowe Jr and D. P. Campbell
Department of Pathology, Tucson Medical Center, AZ 85733.
An increased occurrence of nontuberculous mycobacterial adenitis was
observed in children admitted to the Tucson Medical Center for adenitis
between 1979 and 1983. All infections were due to Mycobacterium
avium-intracellulare complex (MAI). All isolates were obtained from
children less than 3 years old and with symptoms of two months or less.
Children with negative cultures tended to be older, had a longer interval
of lymphadenopathy, and had larger glands. Factors that may have caused the
separation of our two groups and the high prevalence of MAI are addressed
herein. Only earlier suspected diagnosis and application of tuberculosis
screening studies can define the true prevalence of MAI disease in
childhood.
