Abstract
Tumours that occur in the oral cavity may contain granular cells as a component of their pathology. A more common granular cell lesion occurring in the head and neck region is the granular cell tumour (GCT) that usually arises in the tongue or the buccal mucosa. Granular cell tumours are very rare in the parotid gland with only 11 cases previously reported in the English literature. We report a case of a benign tumour involving the parotid gland of a young female patient. The case was diagnostically challenging due to the large proportion of granular cells masking the underlying pathology. Histopathological features and immunohistochemical analysis favoured a diagnosis of a benign GCT. The present report provides an insight into the differential diagnosis and attempts to characterise the granular cells with the use of the wellestablished immunohistochemical markers and conventional histopathological techniques.
Highlights
Granular cells are characteristic pathological components of many tumours and lesions that occur in the oral cavity
The membrane bound vacuoles resembling secondary lysosomes that give the cell in granular cell tumour (GCT) their characteristic granular appearance have been found to resemble myelin ultra-structurally thereby supporting a Schwann cell origin [5]
The histogenesis of GCTs has been the subject of extensive immunohistochemical analysis
Summary
Granular cells are characteristic pathological components of many tumours and lesions that occur in the oral cavity. This report describes in detail the clinicopathologic and immunologic profile of a benign parotid gland tumour demonstrating a prominent granular cell change. The spindle cells in the tumour showed an eosinophilic cytoplasm, and a centrally located vesicular nucleus. These cells were arranged in interwoven fascicles at least focally (Fig. 4). The tumor showed focal areas of cystic degeneration and the granular cells appeared to be related to these degenerating areas. Histopathological and immunohistochemical features the lesion was diagnosed as a benign granular cell tumour of the parotid gland
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