Clinical and Sonographic Evaluation of Major Salivary Gland Tumors

Ultrasound is the initial imaging modality for the detection of salivary gland tumors. There is an argument for evaluating multiple characteristics for predicting tumors using this imaging modality because no single sonographic feature is adequate for differentiating between benign and malignant tumors. This study aimed to examine clinical and sonographic characteristics of major salivary gland masses using B-mode ultrasound and color Doppler and check the sensitivity and specificity for each parameter.
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 Sixty-two patients with parotid and submandibular salivary gland tumors underwent preoperative ultrasonic and postoperative histopathological evaluation. Different characteristics were examined, such as tumor shape, size, echotexture, internal calcification, cystic changes, clarity of the boundaries of the Lesion, lymph node enlargement, as well as the distribution of blood supply in the lesion by color Doppler.

Histopathological examination revealed that 18 of 62 tumors were malignant and the rest 44 tumors were benign, and 68.2% of benign cases were pleomorphic adenomas. Mucoepidermoid carcinoma accounted for 61.1% cases. There was a significant difference between the malignant and benign tumors in calcification in the lesion, echogenicity, posterior echo enhancement, vascularity, and significant result in the shape of the lesion and homogeneity status (p<0.01).

Pleomorphic adenoma and mucoepidermoid carcinoma are the most frequent benign and malignant tumors, respectively. Older age and female gender are associated with a higher frequency of malignant salivary gland tumors.