A pilot study on pediatric mononucleosis presenting with abscess

To describe this new clinical entity, diagnosis, and potential management of pediatric intratonsillar/peritonsillar abscesses in children affected by infectious mononucleosis.

After institutional review board approval, a retrospective chart review of patients who underwent testing for infectious mononucleosis and also had a computed tomography scan of the head and neck was completed. Those who did not have imaging showing the palatine tonsils and those with insufficient testing to diagnose infectious mononucleosis were excluded.

One hundred patients were included in the study; 15 had a peritonsillar abscess and 29 had an intratonsillar abscess. Four of the patients with a peritonsillar abscess (26.7%) had a positive Monospot or Epstein-Barr virus IgM result, and two of 15 (13.3%) had positive rapid strep or culture results. Of the 29 patients with an intratonsillar abscess, eight (27.6%) had a positive Monospot or Epstein-Barr virus IgM result while two (6.9%) had a positive rapid strep or culture result. Of those with bilateral intratonsillar abscess, five of 12 (41.7%) patients showed laboratory markers for infectious mononucleosis compared with three of 17 (17.6%) with unilateral intratonsillar abscess. This difference was not statistically significant (Fischer's, p = 0.218).

In our cohort of patients undergoing computed tomography scan and acute infectious mononucleosis testing, patients with intratonsillar and peritonsillar abscess tested positive for mononucleosis markers more commonly than for streptococcus markers. Recognizing uncomplicated intratonsillar and peritonsillar abscess in the setting of infectious mononucleosis in these pediatric patients may help tailor management in this population.