This site is intended for healthcare professionals

CPD
CPD
Pro
Pro
account_circleSign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Go to /pro/cpd-dashboard page

This page is worth 0.05 CPD credits. CPD dashboard

Go to /account/subscription-details page

This page is worth 0.05 CPD credits. Upgrade to Pro

Bilateral parotid enlargement

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Causes of bilateral parotid enlargement include:

  • local disease:
    • mumps - more commonly children than adults
    • parotitis
    • uveoparotid fever
    • sialectasis - especially if related to eating
    • Sjogren's syndrome
    • tumour infiltration

  • systemic disease:
    • sarcoidosis
    • tuberculosis
    • alcoholism
    • myxoedema
    • Cushing's disease
    • diabetes/insulin resistance - about 25% of patients with overt or latent diabetes have bilateral asymptomatic enlargement of the parotid glands (1)
    • liver cirrhosis
    • gout
    • bulimia nervosa
    • HIV in children may cause bilateral parotid enlargement (2)



  • drugs:
    • thiouracil
    • isoprenaline
    • phenylbutazone
    • high oestrogen contraceptive pills

Bilateral parotid enlargement may also be seen in:

  • severe dehydration
  • malnutrition

Notes:

  • there have been case reports of involvement of the exocrine glands in cases of leukaemia (3)

Reference:

  1. Pulse (2004), 64 (10), 80.
  2. Hoare S. HIV infection in children--impact upon ENT doctors. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2003 Dec;67 Suppl 1:S85-90.
  3. Obama K et al. Adult T-cell leukemia predominantly involving exocrine glands. Eur J Haematol. 2004 Nov;73(5):332-9.

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.