Test Your Knowledge on Salivary Gland Tumours

Study Notes

Salivary Gland Tumours: Types, Diagnosis, and Treatment

The most common benign salivary gland tumour is pleomorphic salivary adenoma, also known as "mixed salivary tumour", which is found in the parotid gland and presents as a slow-growing painless mass.
Muco-epidermoid carcinoma is the most common malignant salivary gland tumour of the parotid, presenting as a painless, slow-growing mass that is firm or hard, with facial involvement in the later stage.
Other benign tumours of the parotid include papillary cystadenoma lymphomatosum "Warthin's tumor", basal cell adenoma, and oncocytoma.
Other malignant tumours of the parotid include adenoid cystic carcinoma, acinic cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma.
The parotid gland is the largest of the three major salivary glands and receives its blood supply from the branches of the external carotid artery, divided into the deep lobe (20%) and superficial (80%) by the facial nerve.
Risk factors for developing malignant salivary gland tumours include smoking, previous Epstein-Barr infection, and radiation exposure.
Parotid swelling presents as a slow-growing painless mass, often behind the angle of the mandible, inferior to the lobule of the ear, with a smooth, firm, lobulated mobile swelling and positive curtain sign.
Features of malignancy include recent increase in size, pain, nodularity, involvement of the skin, lymph nodes, facial nerve, masseter, and restriction of jaw movement.
Diagnostic investigations for salivary gland tumours include ultrasound, fine-needle aspiration for cytology, and CT or MRI depending on whether the tumour is benign or malignant.
The standard treatment for salivary gland tumours is surgical excision, either superficial parotidectomy with facial nerve preservation or total parotidectomy depending on the extent of the tumour.
Complications of parotidectomy include damage to the facial nerve resulting in Bell's palsy, Frey's syndrome resulting in gustatory sweating, sialocele, hematoma, infection, and flap necrosis.
Frey's syndrome is a common complication seen after parotidectomy, characterized by sweating and flushing of the facial skin over the parotid bed and neck during mastication, resulting from aberrant regeneration of transected/cut postganglionic parasympathetic auriculotemporal nerve fibers.
If the facial nerve is injured during parotidectomy, it must be repaired immediately using primary end-to-end suture or interposition graft if there is a gap, or nerve transfer such as hypoglossal nerve or masseteric if there is a delay.

Description

Think you know about salivary gland tumours? Test your knowledge with our quiz on the types, diagnosis, and treatment of these tumours. From the most common benign and malignant tumours to the diagnostic investigations and surgical excision methods, this quiz covers it all. Whether you're a medical professional or just interested in learning more about this topic, take our quiz and see how much you really know. Keywords: salivary gland tumours, diagnosis, treatment, benign, malignant, par