Role of salivary gland scintigraphy with Tc-99m pertechnetate in determining treatment of solitary parotid gland tumors: a retrospective study.
OBJECTIVE
Although salivary gland scintigraphy has been useful for the diagnosis of Warthin's tumor (WT), there are no reports concerning the clinical impact of this scintigraphy.


METHODS
We retrospectively investigated 127 patients with solitary parotid tumors who had undergone salivary gland scintigraphy.


RESULTS
For patients who had surgery, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of differentiating WT from non-WTs were 95%, 91%, and 92%, respectively. There was a significant correlation between scintigraphic results and the treatment decisions made for the 127 patients (chi2=16.5, P=0.00026). The proportion of WT patients among those who underwent surgery was 19%, whereas 42% of those who were suspected to have WT from scintigraphy were followed without surgical intervention. The main reasons for clinical observation in these patients were comorbidity, refusal of surgery, and age.


CONCLUSIONS
The high percentage of nonsurgical patients suspected to have WT can be explained by the high diagnostic accuracy of salivary gland scintigraphy, which is useful for determining further management when surgery is contraindicated or is refused by the patient.
Nakahara
Tadaki
T
Department of Radiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. n-tadaki0909@k6.dion.ne.jp
Suzuki
Takayuki
T
Hashimoto
Jun
J
Shigematsu
Naoyuki
N
Tomita
Toshiki
T
Ogawa
Kaoru
K
Kubo
Atsushi
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010306:Parotid Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013670:Sodium Pertechnetate Tc 99m / Q000494:pharmacology*
D013670:Sodium Pertechnetate Tc 99m