Cited by 299Diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosisTuberculosis Research and EpidemiologyLymphadenopathy Diagnosis and Analysis

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 65 of the 66 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 9 of the 108 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Current diagnosis and management of peripheral tuberculous lymphadenitis.

Fontanilla, J.-M., Barnes, A., von Reyn, C. F.·2011·Clinical Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Peripheral tuberculous lymphadenitis accounts for ~10% of tuberculosis cases in the United States. Epidemiologic characteristics include a 1.4:1 female-to-male ratio, a peak age range of 30-40 years, and dominant foreign birth, especially East Asian. Patients present with a 1-2 month history of painless swelling of a single group of cervical lymph nodes. Definitive diagnosis is by culture or nucleic amplification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis; demonstration of acid fast bacilli and granulomatous inflammation may be helpful. Excisional biopsy has the highest sensitivity at 80%, but fine-needle aspiration is less invasive and may be useful, especially in immunocompromised hosts and in resource-limited settings. Antimycobacterial therapy remains the cornerstone of treatment, but response is slower than with pulmonary tuberculosis; persistent pain and swelling are common, and paradoxical upgrading reactions may occur in 20% of patients. The role of steroids is controversial. Initial excisional biopsy deserves consideration for both optimal diagnosis and management of the otherwise slow response to therapy.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This narrative review summarizes the epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of peripheral tuberculous lymphadenitis, emphasizing its distinct features and frequent slow or paradoxical response to therapy. It concludes that excisional biopsy offers the best diagnostic yield and may be considered as an adjunct to standard antimycobacterial treatment, while corticosteroid use remains controversial.

Key findings

  • Peripheral tuberculous lymphadenitis accounted for about 10% of US tuberculosis cases; in 2008, 1,103 of 12,904 cases (8.5%) were lymphadenitis. It is more common in women (composite female-to-male ratio 1.4:1), peaks at ages 30–40 years, and in non-endemic countries predominantly affects foreign-born patients, especially those from Southeast Asia and India.
  • Typical presentation is painless swelling of a single cervical lymph node group lasting 1–2 months; median node size is 3 cm, cervical involvement is reported in 45%–70%, and concomitant pulmonary tuberculosis in 18%–42%. Systemic symptoms are more frequent in HIV-positive patients.
  • Definitive diagnosis requires culture or nucleic acid amplification of *Mycobacterium tuberculosis*. Excisional biopsy had the highest sensitivity in one Hong Kong study (80% culture-positive vs 17% for fine-needle aspiration), though FNA is less invasive and useful in resource-limited or immunocompromised settings. NAAT performance was highly variable (sensitivity 2%–100%; specificity 28%–100%).
  • IDSA recommends 6 months of antimycobacterial therapy, supported by cure rates of 89%–94% and relapse rates of 3%. Paradoxical upgrading reactions occurred in 20%–23% of HIV-negative patients and 22%–60% of HIV-positive patients initiating ART; steroids are controversial, and early excisional biopsy may improve diagnosis and management of slow responses.

Methods

  • Narrative review of English-language articles identified through Medline using “Tuberculosis, Lymph Node” as a major Medical Subject Heading from 1990 through 2011.
  • Synthesized epidemiologic data from 14 studies, along with literature on diagnostic tests, antibiotic treatment, steroid therapy, paradoxical reactions, and surgical management.
  • No primary data collection or formal meta-analysis was performed.

Limitations

  • The paper does not explicitly state limitations. Evident from the text: it is a narrative review restricted to English-language Medline articles from 1990–2011, so selection and language bias are possible and study quality was not systematically appraised.
  • Evident from the text: reported rates of paradoxical upgrading reactions vary with definitions, and many cited studies are retrospective or uncontrolled, particularly those on steroid use in adults.
  • Evident from the text: the recommendation to consider early excisional biopsy as an adjunct lacks controlled comparisons against antibiotic therapy alone, as the authors note.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/cid/cir454

Cites

65 of 65 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

9 of 108 cited sources checked · 2 supported · 2 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

Show all 48 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 24
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 40
56 of 56
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Local discomfort is a significant problem for some patients with peripheral tuberculous lymphadenitis.

    “Steroids have been used selectively for local discomfort [31], a significant issue for some patients in our experience.”
1 of 1

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Biopsy result has more positive specimens than specimens tested

    Major

    Table 3 reports 36 positive specimens out of 31 tested as 88%. That fraction is approximately 116%, so at least one of the three figures is wrong.

    Reported 88 · recomputed 116.129032

  • Chest-radiograph range excludes a value in Table 4

    Minor

    The text gives a 10%-40% range, whereas Table 4 reports abnormal chest radiographs in 55% of the UK study.

  • Pulmonary-involvement range excludes a value in Table 1

    Minor

    The stated range starts at 18%, but Table 1 reports pulmonary involvement of 3% for the Australian study.

3 of 3

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Show all 66 references

1 of the 66 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 11

  1. Gonzalez, 2003, The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 7, 987
  2. Fain, 1999, The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 3, 162
  3. Asimacopoulos, 2010, The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 14, 93
  4. Bem, 1997, The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 1, 215
  5. Hesseling, 2010, The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 14, 1252
  6. Kazwala, 2001, The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 5, 87
  7. Blaikley, 2011, The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 15, 375
  8. van Wyk, 2011, The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 15, 56
  9. Daley, 2007, The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 11, 1166
  10. 2003, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL MMWR RECOMM REP, 52, 1
  11. Nemir, 1967, The American review of respiratory disease, 95, 402

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Items 201–298 of 298

Metadata

Authors
Fontanilla, J.-M., Barnes, A., & von Reyn, C. F.
Affiliations
  • Marshall University (US)
  • University of Mississippi Medical Center (US)
Venue
Clinical Infectious Diseases
Published
2011-08-24
Volume
53
Issue
6
Pages
555-562
ISSN
  • 1058-4838 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-6591
OpenAlex
W2170899957
Cited by
299
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 24 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 5
FWCI
1.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Clinical Infectious Diseases (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Lymphadenopathy Diagnosis and Analysis
Keywords
cervical lymphadenopathy, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, excisional biopsy, fine-needle aspiration, acid-fast bacilli, granulomatous inflammation, antimycobacterial therapy, paradoxical reaction, corticosteroids, immunocompromised patients, tuberculosis epidemiology
MeSH terms
Adult, Antitubercular Agents, Female, Humans, Male, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Tuberculosis, Lymph Node, United States, Disease Management

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-01, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

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Cited sources are checked with a language model’s help (gpt-6-sol).

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

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