Parotid enlargement

Published on 02/04/2015 by admin

Filed under Internal Medicine

Last modified 02/04/2015

Print this page

rate 1 star rate 2 star rate 3 star rate 4 star rate 5 star
Your rating: none, Average: 0 (0 votes)

This article have been viewed 727 times

230 Parotid enlargement

Instruction

Look at this patient’s face.

Salient features

History

• Ask the patient whether the parotids are painful and dry mouth

• Ask the patient about dry eyes or use of artificial tears

• History of sarcoidosis

• History of lymphoma, leukaemia.

Examination

• Bilateral parotid enlargement (Fig. 230.1).

image

Fig. 230.1 Sjögren syndrome with moderate parotid swelling.

(With permission from Firestein et al. 2008.)

Proceed as follows:

• Look for the following conditions:

• Dry mouth
• Lupus pernio
• Rheumatoid arthritis.

• Tell the examiner that you would like to know whether the patient has gritty eyes or dry mouth.

Remember: Unilateral parotid enlargement with associated facial nerve palsy is more likely to be malignant tumour of the parotids; it is very rare for facial weakness to occur with benign tumours.

Diagnosis

This patient has parotid enlargement, which is painless, and has a dry mouth (lesion) probably caused by Sjögren syndrome (aetiology). The dry mouth is making swallowing difficult (functional status).

Buy Membership for Internal Medicine Category to continue reading. Learn more here

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailSixth cranial nerve palsy Osteoarthrosis Optic atrophy Default ThumbnailHepatomegaly Carotid artery aneurysm Felty’s syndrome