Language

English

Publication Date

1-1-2025

Journal

Science Progress

DOI

10.1177/00368504251399563

PMID

41252307

PMCID

PMC12627354

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

11-18-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

Objective: Parotid gland neoplasms account for a large proportion of benign salivary gland tumors, with pleomorphic adenomas (PA) being the most common in the civilian population, followed by Warthin's tumor (WT). However, the distinct risk profiles of Veterans significantly influence the incidence and prevalence of salivary gland neoplasms. We investigated the diagnostic and management algorithms for benign parotid gland neoplasms in Veterans.

< >Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Descriptive statistics were calculated using Microsoft Excel. Categorical variables were compared using chi square tests, and were reported with 95% confidence intervals, with statistical significance set at P <  .05.

Results: The study included 158 patients who underwent fine-needle aspiration (FNA) only, and 88 who had FNA followed by surgical intervention. Most patients were male (91%) and smokers (73%). WT was the most common overall (45%), followed by PA (16%). Patients with FNA or surgical pathology indicating WT were more likely to have a history of over 10 pack-years of tobacco use compared to those with lymphocytic tissue, cysts, or PA (58/68 [85.3%, 95% CI 76.9–93.7%] vs. 36/70 [51.4%, 95% CI 39.6–63.2%], P <  .05; 39/46 [84.8%, 95% CI 74.4–95.2%] vs. 16/32 [50.0%, 95% CI 32.8–67.2%], P <  .05). Concordance between FNA and final pathology was 87.5% (77/88; 95% CI, 80.6–94.4%). Surgical patients experienced low complication rates, with sialocele being the most common at 8% (7/88; 95% CI 2.3–13.6%).

Conclusion: Overall, WT was the most prevalent neoplasm and was strongly associated with heavy tobacco use. The high concordance between FNA and surgical pathology underscores the reliability of FNA as a diagnostic tool. These results support the use of FNA as a reliable tool that can guide patient counseling with greater confidence. Furthermore, the low complication rates observed post-surgery reinforce the safety of surgical management.

Keywords

Humans, Male, Female, Adenolymphoma, Retrospective Studies, Middle Aged, Parotid Neoplasms, Veterans, Aged, Biopsy, Fine-Needle, Adult, Smoking, Adenoma, Pleomorphic, Aged, 80 and over

Published Open-Access

yes

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.