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  • Essay / Spectrum of salivary gland disorders in a tertiary care hospital: a four-year experience

    Salivary gland tumors are a heterogeneous group of tumors of the head and neck region. The major salivary glands are parotid, submandibular, and sublingual, while the minor salivary glands are located throughout the submucosa of the upper aerodigestive tract, with a maximum amount in the palate. Benign and malignant diseases can develop in all salivary glands. Although salivary gland tumors represent less than 1% of all tumors, their prevalence reported in the literature differs. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'? Get the original essay Salivary gland tumors constitute 2-4% of all head and neck tumors. The prevalence of salivary gland tumors is estimated to be between 0.4 and 14 cases per year per 100,000 inhabitants worldwide. While the prevalence of malignant salivary glands ranges from 0.4 to 2.6 per 100,000 inhabitants per year. Among all salivary gland disorders, the most common benign and malignant tumors are pleomorphic adenoma and mucoepidermoid carcinoma, respectively. Approximately 80% involve the parotid glands, while 10-20% occur in the submandibular and sublingual glands in terms of incidence. Approximately 80% of benign parotid gland tumors are pleomorphic adenoma.1 The cause of these tumors is still unknown; It is likely that ionizing radiation, vitamin A deficiency, tobacco, prolonged exposure to sunlight and chemotherapy may contribute to the development of these disorders. A long-standing lump is the characteristic sign of benign salivary gland tumors, while malignant tumors may manifest as a rapidly growing mass, pain, facial nerve paralysis, trismus, fistula formation, damage cutaneous, cervical lymphadenopathy and weight loss. Malignant parotid tumors can invade the face. nerve in approximately one third of cases, while malignant tumors of the submandibular and sublingual glands may involve the hypoglossal nerve, followed by the trigeminal and facial nerves. Embryologically, the salivary glands develop as a result of an initial thickening of the epithelium of the stomodeum, while the submandibular and sublingual glands develop from the endodermal germ layers3, while the parotid gland develops from oral ectoderm. It is a diagnostic dilemma for the histopathologist on the one hand and a difficult task for its classification on the other hand, due to the complexity and rarity of these disorders. In 1972, the World Health Organization (WHO) published the first classification of salivary gland tumors, which has been modified many times over the past 4 decades. Diagnosis of salivary gland disorders can be made with clinical features supplemented by fine-needle aspiration cytology, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography confirmed by histopathological study of the sample. However, sometimes fine-needle aspiration cytology alone cannot distinguish between benign and malignant tumors. Benign salivary gland tumors of the parotid glands are treated by superficial parotidectomy, while benign tumors of the submandibular glands are totally excised, followed by observation for any recurrence. Treatment of malignant salivary gland tumors consists of total excision of the primary tumor accompanied byremoval of the surrounding tissues involved, as well as neck dissection followed by chemoradiotherapy. The incidence of complications, especially facial nerve damage, is common in malignant tumors due to the close relationship between the nerve and the gland. As salivary gland tumors are common in our Pakistani society, significant cases frequently present in our outpatient surgical departments, which are admitted and treated properly. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the demographic, clinical and histopathological characteristics of salivary gland disorders. This 4-year cross-sectional study (January 2013 to October 2017) was carried out in Department of Surgery 2, Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.Lahore. After obtaining approval from the hospital ethics committee, all patients with salivary gland disorders were included. Well-informed written consent was obtained from each patient explaining the risks, benefits, complication associated with the surgical procedure, disease prognosis, and publication of photographs if necessary. All patients were assessed for detailed history, local, oral cavity and systemic examination supplemented by relevant investigations including fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of edema, ultrasonography and in some suspected cases, a head and neck CT scan with IV contrast. were also carried out. Each swelling was evaluated for size, duration, transillumination, fluctuation, consistency, bimanual palpation, lymphadenopathy, skin and neurologic involvement. After making a diagnosis of the lesion based on clinical examination, radiological investigation and FNAC, surgical intervention was performed accordingly. The specimens were examined by a histopathologist to confirm disease. Data were analyzed via SPSS version 20. In this study, 58 patients were included with a mean age ± standard deviation of 34 ± 1.4 years (age range 15 to 80 years). There were 23 men (39.7%) and 35 women (60.3%) with a male/female ratio of 1:1.52. Most patients presented in the 2nd and 3rd decades (60.3%, 35). And among these 35 patients in this age group, pleomorphic adenoma was the most common histopathological finding (58.0%, 29), followed by mucoepidermoid carcinoma (50%, 2). (Table 01). Regarding the clinical characteristics of salivary gland disorders, swelling was the most common presentation (100%) with a mean duration of 2 ± 2.2 years. Most swellings (87.9%, 51) were firm on palpation and slow growth of swellings was observed in most patients (72.41%, 42). The other characteristics found were pain, facial nerve paralysis, fixity, skin involvement, transillumination and cervical lymphadenopathy, respectively in 17.2%, 1.7%, 3.4%, 3.4%. 3.4% and 3.4% (Table 02). In total, benign salivary gland disorders were 54 (93.1%) and malignant disorders were 4 (6.9%). Among all benign conditions, 50 cases (86.2%) were benign tumors, while 2 (3.7%) were inflammatory and two cases were found to be benign cysts. Overall benign tumors were observed in the parotid glands, followed by the submandibular glands. No tumors were found in the sublingual glands. Among benign adenomas, pleomorphic adenomas were the most frequent histopathological findings (95.55%) in the parotid glands, followed by the submandibular glands (63.33%). The overall incidence of malignancies was common in the submandibular glands (18.18%)2, followed by the parotid glands.