[Parotid tuberculosis]

Two rare cases of parotid gland tuberculosis are presented, which confirms the rising incidence of tuberculosis in Spain. Preoperative diagnosis is difficult, as the disease may be mistaken for a neoplastic process, and complementary tests, fine needle aspiration biopsy, CAT, analyses and chest X-rays are frequently nonspecific, particularly in the absence of a history of lung tuberculosis. As the diagnosis is histopathological, surgery in the form of a parotidectomy with preservation of the facial nerve is the treatment of choice, followed by 9 months of tuberculostatic medication. Only in cases in which the preoperative evidence (antecedents, chest X-rays) suggests the specific origin of the disease may antituberculosis treatment be given. Positive patient response is diagnostic.