Diagnostic Challenge of a Deep Minor Salivary Gland Neoplasm

Maria C Munerato,Marco A T Martins,Vivian P Wagner,Manoela D Martins,Fernando B Do Amaral,Antônio C Maciel,Bruna Genari

doi:10.1155/2014/608267

Abstract

Core needle biopsy represents a safe and cheap alternative diagnostic method to open biopsy and fine-needle aspiration cytology in head and neck tumors. There is little evidence in the literature about the use of core needle biopsy in minor salivary gland lesions. This single case report presents a 60-year-old woman with a painless swelling in the soft palate, breathing and swallowing difficulties, and a feeling of suffocation. Two open biopsies had inconclusive diagnosis and the lesion could only be assessed and diagnosed as pleomorphic adenoma through core needle biopsy. Recognizing the correct indication of core needle biopsy can benefit both health professionals and patients; thus, it is important to consider the possibility of performing this method to diagnose minor salivary gland tumors.

Highlights

Salivary gland tumors are unusual oral conditions that generated considerable interest due to their heterogeneous histology, grade of malignancy, and clinical behavior
This technique usually provides sufficient material for diagnosis; it represents an invasive method, might involve general anesthesia and hospital admission, and can be time consuming [2]. Procedures such as fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and core needle biopsy (CNB) have gained widespread popularity for tissue sampling in order to achieve a definitive diagnosis as they both represent less invasive and inexpensive techniques [3, 4]
The advantages of using CNB in head and neck tumors have already been demonstrated [2, 4, 6], including lesions located in major salivary glands [5, 7]; no study was found discussing the application of CNB in minor salivary glands

Summary

Introduction

Salivary gland tumors are unusual oral conditions that generated considerable interest due to their heterogeneous histology, grade of malignancy, and clinical behavior. An accurate preoperative diagnosis is necessary to establish an adequate treatment and open biopsy followed by histopathological analysis is considered to be the gold standard for diagnosing salivary gland tumors [1]. This technique usually provides sufficient material for diagnosis; it represents an invasive method, might involve general anesthesia and hospital admission, and can be time consuming [2]. A discussion of the importance of this technique in the diagnosis of salivary gland tumors is offered

Case Presentation

Findings

Discussion