Nested polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis of cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis in Mexican children.

Setting: Cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis (CTBL) diagnosis is a critical problem due to the difficulty in culturing Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Objective: To evaluate a nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) for the diagnosis of CTBL.

Design: Thirty-eight children initially diagnosed on the basis of clinical and laboratory criteria as suffering from chronic cervical lymphadenitis were included in the study.