title: A case report of coexistence of a sialolith and an adenoid cystic carcinoma in the submandibular gland.
abstract: The occurrence of sialoliths in the submandibular gland is 80% due to the specific anatomy of both the gland and its duct. The diagnosis is rather easy because of the obvious clinical signs of the entity. Imaging studies are always necessary in order to treat the patient as effectively as possible. The stones do not tend to occur within the gland as frequently as in the respective duct. The coexistence of sialoliths and malignant tumors is extremely rare. A 70-year-old woman with intraparenchymal stone was operated in our ENT department. In addition to the sialolith the pathological examination revealed the existence of an adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC), that extended to the neighboring skeletal muscle. This is the reason why we believe it would be useful to report this case of a large stone (14 mm in diameter) located in the submandibular gland coexisting with ACC. This case report is a very good example illustrating that all available means should be used prior to reaching a conclusion and making a health professional decision.
authors.affiliation: ENT Department, General State Hospital of Kalamata, Greece. dbatzakakis@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Batzakakis
authors.forename: Kostas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Apostolopoulos
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bardanis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003528:Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015494:Salivary Gland Calculi / Q000150:complications*; D013365:Submandibular Gland Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*