Diagnosis Of Parotid Tumors Research Articles

Accuracy in the diagnosis of parotid tumours

Parotid lesions are often not easily classified. Important information is gathered by conventional and instrumental investigation. But these data are often insufficient to make a correct diagnosis. The authors have compared these techniques. In particular, they have evaluated their accuracy in identification of site and histology. 60 patients with parotid tumours underwent the same instrumental diagnostic techniques (echography, sialography, computed tomography and fine needle aspiration biopsy). In regard to the identification of the site, the highest percentage was achieved by computed tomography (98%). Echotomography has shown an accuracy of 83%, and sialography 87%. Fine needle aspiration biopsy has allowed the definition of the histiotype in 98% of cases. Computed tomography, echotomography and sialography have not allowed the definition of histiotype in malignant tumours, but in the case of benign tumours computed tomography has permitted a diagnosis in 29 cases (57% of benign tumours). Echotomography and sialography in 25 (49%) and 26 cases (51%), respectively.

The Value of Pre-Operative Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy in Planning the Management of Parotid Gland Tumours

In a review of 85 patients with palpable parotid tumours managed at the Kuwait Cancer Control Centre during a 5-year period, the value of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) has been evaluated and compared with the final histopathological assessment. The results indicate that FNAB has good accuracy in discriminating between benign and malignant lesions; there was no false-positive diagnosis of malignancy, and the malignancy false-negative rate was 7%. In addition, there is a high correlation between FNAB and histopathology in the various subclassifications of malignant parotid tumours. Tuberculous lymphadenitis, which is common in this part of the world and where surgical exploration should be avoided, was accurately diagnosed in all cases. There was the same high accuracy rate with inflammatory lesions. It is therefore concluded that a thorough clinical examination along with FNAB is adequate for the diagnosis of parotid tumours.

Sialography in Diagnosis of Parotid Tumors

<i>To the Editor</i>.—The article entitled "The Value of Sialography in the Diagnosis of Parotid Tumors: A Clinicopathological Correlation" in the December 1977 issue of theArchives(103:727-729) established some correlation between the sialography and clinicopathological findings, but it still leaves a question in my mind as to the value of sialography. In the "Comment" section, most of the remarks underline the fact that preoperative sialography is limited in value. The results showed that in detecting a lesion, palpation was better than sialography since 85% of the detectable lesions were found on the radiographs. Localization of intrinsic vs extrinsic masses cannot be determined with certainty nor can the pathologic condition of the lesion be adequately determined. I would be interested in Calcaterra and colleagues' specific comments as to whether sialography really influenced a surgical decision in any of the patients who were described. At the end of the "Comment" section,

Sialography in Diagnosis of Parotid Tumors-Reply

In Reply .—I would like to reply to the two letters that have been written in response to our article The Value of Sialography in the Diagnosis of Parotid Tumors: A Clinicopathological Correlation in the December 1977 issue of theArchives(103:727-729). Drs Gates and Stevens concluded that sialography has negligible value in the diagnostic evaluation of parotid masses. Our study was solely designed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of sialography, which certainly remains a controversial test. Our findings and conclusions do not suggest that sialography should be a routine part of the evaluation of all parotid masses. We were impressed with the accuracy of sialography to localize a mass within (intrinsic) or outside (extrinsic) the gland and predict the presence of a malignant tumor (four of six patients). Since this study was a clinicopathological correlation, it was necessarily confined to those patients who underwent surgical exploration. Unfortunately, those patients

Sialography in Diagnosis of Parotid Tumors

To the Editor .—I wish to congratulate Calcaterra et al on the thoroughness with which they evaluated the role of in tumor diagnosis and for the quality of their illustrations in their article in the December 1977 issue of theArchives(103:727-729). I must, however, take them to task for two points: First, they misquoted my previous work. 1 Second, the conclusions in their article are not supported by their findings. My previous publication 1 implied that radiosialography could be of value in determining whether a cold lesion of the parotid gland was located deep or superficially within the gland. Calcaterra et al quoted me as saying that would do the same thing. These are two quite dissimilar techniques, and I do not believe that contrast allows one to make the same judgment. Although Calcaterra et al stated that sialography can provide reasonably accurate information... which may

The value of sialography in the diagnosis of parotid tumors. A clinicopathological correlation.

The importance of sialography in the diagnostic evaluation of the condition of a patient with a parotid mass remains uncertain; some proponents advise use of sialography routinely, while others believe it to be worthless. To help resolve these conflicting opinions, a retrospective study of 40 patients was carried out that compared sialographical interpretations with respective surgical-histological findings. The results of this study show that generally reliable information, which may serve to influence therapeutic decisions concerning these patients, can be gleaned from sialography.