Publication:

Study and correlation of clinical, cytological and histopathological findings in diagnosis of parotid gland masses

Background Parotid masses comprise a variety of benign and malignant tumors and tumor-like conditions, which may present diagnostic challenges to the surgeon and pathologist as well. Fine needle aspiration cytology is considered to be a useful diagnostic tool used for preoperative evaluation of parotid masses. However its role may not be conclusive for evaluation. This study was aimed to evaluate fine-needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis and management of parotid lesions.

Methods The present study was a prospective study done over a 3 year period included 38 patients with parotid gland lesions who underwent preoperative fine-needle aspiration cytology, MRI/USG followed by surgical procedure and histopathological examination. The clinical, cytological findings were compared with the final histological diagnosis and concordance assessed.

Results Of the 38 cases with parotid lesions 31(81.5%) were neoplasms and 7 (18.4%) were non-neoplastic lesions. Out of the neoplasms, 25 (80%) were benign and 6 (19%) were malignant parotid tumors. Deep lobe lesions were 9 (23.6%) and superficial lobe were 29 (76.31%). In this study correlation between FNAC and final histopathology was studied. In some situations cytological features could not provide correct tumor characterization. In our study the sensitivity of FNAC in diagnosing the lesion was 96.55% and specificity was 66.6%.

Conclusions FNAC is a simple and reliable technique for preoperative evaluation of parotid masses. Due to the minimally invasive nature of the technique, fine-needle aspiration cytology offers valuable information for planning of subsequent therapeutic management.