title: Submandibular triangle masses.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study aims to analyze the demographic data of a large case series operated on because of submandibular triangle mass for more than 10 years and presents a review of the literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  The charts of patients who underwent surgical intervention for submandibular triangle mass between January 2000 and November 2010 were reviewed. The medical history, age, sex, duration of symptoms, clinical presentation, preoperative investigations, and histopathologic diagnosis were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study included 66 subjects; 12 patients (18.2%) with submandibular sialolithiasis, 18 patients (27.2%) with sialadenitis, 10 patients with lymphadenitis (15.1%), and 26 patients (39.3%) with tumors. Of the tumors, 23% was malignant and 77% was benign. Benign tumors of submandibular gland comprised 22.7% and malign tumors of submandibular gland comprised 3% of all submandibular mass. The most common benign tumor was pleomorphic adenoma. The most frequent histopathologic diagnoses of submandibular masses originated from the submandibular gland, and these comprised 71.2% of all submandibular mass pathologies. The main symptom was a painless mass. Ultrasonography was the most common preoperative diagnostic procedure. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy was performed in 26 patients. A clear diagnosis could not be provided in 3 (12%) patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Infectious conditions and benign tumors are more frequent than malign tumors in the submandibular region. The histopathologic diagnoses mainly consisted of submandibular sialadenitis, sialolithiasis, pleomorphic adenoma, and lymphadenitis. Ultrasonography is the first option of radiologic evaluation. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy is a very useful and usually sufficient diagnostic procedure for histopathologic diagnosis. Excisional biopsy can be performed when the fine-needle aspiration biopsy failed.
authors.affiliation: From the * Departments of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, and †Pathology, Gulhane Military Medical School, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dalgic
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Karakoc
authors.forename: Serdar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karahatay
authors.forename: Yusuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hidir
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gamsizkan
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Birkent
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008199:Lymphadenitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012793:Sialadenitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013365:Submandibular Gland Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery
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