Fine needle aspiration biopsy of the parotid gland. Diagnostic problems and 2 uncommon cases.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the diagnostic problems and present our findings in 2 uncommon tumors, malignant myoepithelioma and small cell undifferentiated carcinoma, by examining fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies of parotid gland masses.


METHODS
The study group consisted of 34 females and 41 males 12-80 years old, with an average of 44. Excluding inflammatory results, all adequate aspirates were confirmed histologically to determine the correlation.


RESULTS
Sensitivity of FNA cytology was 91%, with specificity of 98%. We encountered some difficulties, and therefore misdiagnoses, in evaluating specific neoplasms, such as adenoid cystic carcinoma and Warthin's tumor, which have well-established cytologic diagnostic criteria. Two cases of uncommon neoplasms of salivary glands, small cell undifferentiated carcinoma and malignant myoepithelioma, were cytologically found to be malignant but not further classified. In addition, tuberculous parotitis, with its well-defined features, should to be referred since unnecessary surgery can be avoided by using FNA cytology.


CONCLUSIONS
FNA is a sensitive and specific diagnostic tool for parotid gland masses. However, specific classification of neoplasms may sometimes be difficult. Pathologists should be aware of specific entities, such as malignant myoepithelioma, when evaluating high grade neoplasms.
Behzatoğlu
Kemal
K
Departments of Pathology, Social Insurance Institution Istanbul Educational Hospital, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey.
Bahadir
Burak
B
Kaplan
Hasan H
HH
Yücel
Zeki
Z
Durak
Haydar
H
Bozkurt
Erol R
ER
D000235:Adenolymphoma / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle / Q000592:standards*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology; D003528:Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic / Q000473:pathology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009208:Myoepithelioma / Q000473:pathology; D010306:Parotid Gland / Q000473:pathology*; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor