Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-22T03:30:52.547Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Wegener’s granulomatosis mimicking a parotid abscess

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

G L Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, Wales.
A D Lukaris
Affiliation:
Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, Wales.
H V Prabhu
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, Wales.
M J K M Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, Wales.
J Bondeson
Affiliation:
Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, Wales

Abstract

We present the case of a previously healthy 59-year-old man who was under treatment for scleritis and episcleritis when he developed a parotid-gland swelling and pus-producing sinus. On surgical exploration, the features were those of a parotid abscess, but the lesion not only failed to heal post-operatively but increased in size very significantly. There was also severe necrotizing keratitis of the eyes. Due to clinical suspicion and a positive antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies test, Wegener’s granulomatosis was diagnosed and the patient successfully treated with cyclophosphamide and steroids. Previously, a number of cases of Wegener’s granulomatosis causing salivary-gland swelling have been reported in the literature; this is the first case in which the disease has masqueraded as a parotid abscess.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Royal Society of Medicine Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)