Actinomycosis in Differential Diagnosis of Cervicofacial Mass: A Case Report

11 Sum mary Actinomycosis is a rare soft tissue infection caused by Gram-positive, anaerobic bacteria. It is rarely seen in childhood. However, most of the cases are misdiagnosed. Thus, the true prevalence cannot be estimated. The major clinical forms of actinomycosis are; cervicofacial, thoracic, abdominal and pelvic forms. The most frequent clinical form is cervicofacial actinomycosis. Diagnosis of disease and differential diagnosis from numerous infectious and noninfectious diseases are very difficult. Cervicofacial actinomycos is not commonly thought of in the first step of the differential diagnosis of cervicofacial mass. We presented a 9-year old boy diagnosed with cervicofacial actinomycosis. (J Pe di atr Inf 2009; 3: 28-30)