Mycobacterial disease of the head and neck: current perspective

The worldwide increase in mycobacterial diseases, tuberculous and nontuberculous, and their association with human immunodeficiency virus infection has had and will continue to have an impact on the practice of otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeons. Epidemiologic and ecologic changes in tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacterial diseases tend to blur former clinicopathologic distinctions among these groups, especially in immunocompromised hosts. Diagnosis depends on objective identification of the mycobacterium, a process facilitated by molecular diagnostics.