title: Symposium: management of tumors of the parotid gland. II. Diagnosis of parotid gland swelling.
abstract: Diagnosis of parotid gland swellings can be approached by attempting to answer the following questions: 1. Is it parotid? 2. Is it inflammatory or neoplastic? 3. If it is neoplastic, is it benign or malignant? Diagnosis is made by following the classical physical diagnostic procedures of inspection, palpation, and auscultation. These are followed by radiographic procedures, such as plain films, sialography and technetium scanning. Since approximately one in four parotid neoplasms is malignant, a definitive step should be biopsy. Excisional biopsy is recommended.
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D006801:Humans; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging