The Offprint of an Abnormal Pre-Parotidectomy Electrodiagnostic Finding in a Normally Functioning Facial Nerve: Correlation with Intraoperative Findings, Histology and Postoperative Facial Nerve Function

The aim of this study was to search for associations between an electrodiagnostically abnormal but clinically normal facial nerve before parotidectomy and the intraoperative findings, as well as the postoperative facial nerve function. The records of all patients treated for parotid tumors between 2002 and 2021 with a preoperative House–Brackmann score of grade I but an abnormal electrophysiologic finding were studied retrospectively. A total of 285 patients were included in this study, and 222 patients had a benign lesion (77.9%), whereas 63 cases had a malignant tumor (22.1%). Electroneurographic facial nerve involvement was associated with nerve displacement in 185 cases (64.9%) and infiltration in 17 cases (6%). In 83 cases (29.1%), no tumor–nerve interface could be detected intraoperatively. An electroneurographic signal was absent despite supramaximal stimulation in 6/17 cases with nerve infiltration and in 17/268 cases without nerve infiltration (p < 0.001). The electrophysiologic involvement of a normal facial nerve is not pathognomonic for a malignancy (22%), but it presents a rather rare (~6%) sign of a “true” nerve infiltration and could also appear in tumors without any contact with the facial nerve (~29%). Of our cases, two thirds of those with an anatomic nerve preservation and facial palsy had already directly and postoperatively recovered to a major extent in the midterm.

Characteristics and Outcomes of Parotid Gland Tumors in Adolescents

Objective Parotid tumors are rare neoplasms in adults but are exceedingly infrequent in adolescents. We aimed to determine the clinical characteristics and outcomes of parotid tumors in adolescents under 20 years old. Methods Between 1999 and 2020, 979 cases of benign parotid tumors and 236 cases of malignant parotid tumors were treated surgically in our department. Of these, 12 benign cases (1.2%) and 9 malignant cases (3.8%) were in adolescents. There were no benign or malignant cases for those aged under 10 years. Results Regarding the histological type, all benign tumors were pleomorphic adenomas. About half of malignant tumors were mucoepidermoid carcinomas, and excluding one high-grade case, the grade of malignancy was all low/intermediate. The accuracy of fine-needle aspiration cytology among adolescents showed no significant difference with that of adults. In contrast to adults, adolescent benign tumor cases showed a markedly high rate of pleomorphic adenomas and no postoperative facial nerve palsy. Malignant tumors in adolescents had a different trend than adults; low/intermediate-grade malignancies were common and thus few symptoms/signs of malignancy could be observed. As well, the accuracy of fine-needle aspiration cytology was poor. All cases had a good prognosis and are disease-free survival. Conclusion Parotid tumors in adolescents are rare but have several characteristics that are distinct from adults. As long-term observation is required posttreatment in adolescent patients, recurrence in benign pleomorphic adenomas and poor long-term prognosis in malignant tumors, especially for those with low/intermediate-grade malignancy, are more likely to be observed.

Three Cases of Parotid Hemangiomas in Adults

Hemangiomas account for only 0.4% to 0.6% of all parotid tumors, making them extremely rare in adults. Unlike pediatric parotid hemangiomas, those in adults typically present as asymptomatic swellings of the parotid, have no skin discoloration, and usually do not regress spontaneously. Therefore, an accurate diagnosis of parotid hemangiomas in adults before surgical excision is generally challenging. Herein, we present 3 cases of adult parotid hemangiomas. The patients all received parotidectomies with tumor resection. Histopathological analysis of the resected specimens revealed numerous dilated, thin- or thick-walled (small, large, or variably sized) vessels lined with flattened endothelial cells. A diagnosis of cavernous hemangioma of the parotid gland was established only after the histopathological analysis. Parotid cavernous hemangiomas in adults are rare and often misdiagnosed before surgical resection. Clinical presentation and imaging features on ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and angiography may support an accurate preoperative diagnosis. Surgical resection proved a suitable treatment approach for our 3 cases.

Histogram analysis of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in the differential diagnosis of parotid tumors

Objective Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) histograms were used to investigate whether their parameters can distinguish between benign and malignant parotid gland tumors and further differentiate tumor subgroups. Materials and methods A total of 117 patients (32 malignant and 85 benign) who had undergone DCE-MRI for pretreatment evaluation were retrospectively included. Histogram parameters including mean, median, entropy, skewness, kurtosis and 10th, 90th percentiles were calculated from time to peak (TTP) (s), wash in rate (WIR) (l/s), wash out rate (WOR) (l/s), and maximum relative enhancement (MRE) (%) mono-exponential models. The Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare the differences between the benign and malignant groups. The diagnostic value of each significant parameter was determined on Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to identify the independent predictors of the different tumor groups. Results For both the benign and malignant groups and the comparisons among the subgroups, the parameters of TTP and MRE showed better performance among the various parameters. WOR can be used as an indicator to distinguish Warthin’s tumors from other tumors. Warthin’s tumors showed significantly lower values on 10th MRE and significantly higher values on skewness TTP and 10th WOR, and the combination of 10th MRE, skewness TTP and 10th WOR showed optimal diagnostic performance (AUC, 0.971) and provided 93.12% sensitivity and 96.70% specificity. After Warthin’s tumors were removed from among the benign tumors, malignant parotid tumors showed significantly lower values on the 10th TTP (AUC, 0.847; sensitivity 90.62%; specificity 69.09%; P < 0.05) and higher values on skewness MRE (AUC, 0.777; sensitivity 71.87%; specificity 76.36%; P < 0.05). Conclusion DCE-MRI histogram parameters, especially TTP and MRE parameters, show promise as effective indicators for identifying and classifying parotid tumors. Entropy TTP and kurtosis MRE were found to be independent differentiating variables for malignant parotid gland tumors. The 10th WOR can be used as an indicator to distinguish Warthin’s tumors from other tumors.

An Experience of Superficial Parotidectomy in Tertiary Care Teaching Hospitals

Background: Superficial parotidectomy is associated with a decreased incidence of transient facial nerve paralysis compared with that of total parotidectomy. Aim: To analyze the clinical presentation, histopathology and complications following superficial parotidectomy performed for benign parotid tumors. Methods: Two center study data was collected from the Surgical Unit I, Department of Surgery AIMC/Jinnah Hospital Lahore (1st January 2012 to October 2018) and Surgical Unit II, Department of Surgery, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Lahore (November 2018 to 31st December 2020). All patients who underwent superficial Parotidectomy surgery for benign parotid tumors, from 1st January 2012 to 31st December 2020 were assessed for intra-operative and post-operative complications. Demographic data, intraoperative details, and postoperative outcomes of all patients who underwent superficial parotidectomy were collected. Patients with benign parotid tumors on FNAC were included while patients with malignant cells on histopathology were excluded. Results: A total of 50 patients having benign parotid tumors on FNAC underwent superficial parotidectomy during this study period. There were 35 female patients (70%) and 15 male (30%), with female to male ratio of 2.3:1. The age range was 23-70 years with mean age of patients 35.6 years (5.65±SD). In 48% cases the tumor was on left side of face and in 52% cases it was on right side. Amongst 50 cases, on postoperative histopathology, 2 patients had malignant change. Key words: Superficial parotidectomy, pleomorphic adenoma, facial nerve paralysis.

DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY OF COLOR ANDPULSED DOPPLER IN THE EVALUATION OF PAROTID GLAND TUMORS

Background: The parotid glands are the largest salivary glands in humans and are frequently involved in various primary & systemic disease processes. The most common benign parotid gland tumor is pleomorphic adenoma. Around 20% of parotid tumors are malignant with most common parotid tumors being mucoepidermoid carcinoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma. Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of pulsed and color Doppler for the evaluation of parotid gland cancer. Methods: It was a cross sectional study by design carried out in Department of Radiology and Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Mayo Hospital – Lahore in a duration of three year. All the patients were examined with mind-ray 7.5 MHz linear transducer. There are three methods used collectively; Grey Scale, color Doppler and Pulsed Doppler in sonographic examination. Color Doppler and pulsed Doppler demonstrate number of blood vessels within the tumor, their Peak Systolic Velocity and Resistive Index respectively. Histo-pathological results were correlated post operatively with the data obtained from Doppler ultrasound. Data was analyzed using SPSS 23.0 Results: In this study, 192 patients were included .The mean age was 39.42 ± 11.93 years. 58.85% (112) were male patients and 41.15 %( 80) patients were females. The solid masses with regular margins were evaluated and the diagnostic accuracy of pulsed Doppler was found to be 87.5% taking histopathology as gold standard. Conclusion: This study shows pulsed Doppler to be more accurate tool for diagnosis of parotid gland tumor as compared to color Doppler taking histopathology as gold standard.

Endoscopic and Robotic Parotidectomy for the Treatment of Parotid Tumors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BackgroundThe goal of this review was to introduce endoscopic/robotic parotidectomy (EP/RP) and compare EP/RP against conventional parotidectomy (CP) regarding the intraoperative and postoperative parameters in the treatment of parotid tumors.MethodsA systematic literature search of medical databases (PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) was performed from inception to November 2020 to generate relevant studies.ResultsA total of 13 eligible studies (572 patients) were included for systematic review, and 7 out of 13 comparable studies for the quantitative synthesis of outcomes. Patients who underwent EP were characterized by less intraoperative bleeding volume, shorter incision length, and higher satisfaction postoperatively (WMD, 95% CI, -42.80; - 58.23 to -27.37; p &lt; 0.01; WMD, 95% CI, -5.64; -7.88 to -3.39; p &lt; 0.01; SMD, 95% CI, 1.88; 1.46 to 2.31; p &lt; 0.01, respectively). However, operative time and risk of facial palsy exhibited no significant differences (WMD, 95% CI, -11.17; -26.71 to 4.34; p = 0.16; OR, 95% CI,0.71; 0.39 to 1.32; p = 0.28, respectively).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the current evidence does not adequately support EP is equally safe and effective as CP. In certain selected cases, endoscopic technology has its unique advantages. For patients with strong cosmetic needs, endoscopic or robotic techniques may be an alternative through adequate preoperative evaluations.Systematic Review RegistrationInternational Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews, identifier CRD42020210299.

Parotidectomy and Facial Paralysis, A Retrospective Review at A Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Facial Nerve is in close proximity with parotid gland and encountered during parotid surgery. Facial nerve paralysis has 15 to 66% occurrence rate after parotidectomies. The objective of this study was to find out the frequency of facial paralysis resulting from superficial or total parotidectomies done for various parotid tumors. Material and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the Department of ENT, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar from January 2018 to May 2020. A total of 203 patients were reviewed for data on demographics, parotidectomies, histopathology and facial paralysis. The information on facial paralysis was compared against various parameters. Results: The mean age of the participants was 46.12 ± 11.11 years. The most common parotid tumor was pleomorphic adenoma (68.9%) followed by mucoepidermoid carcinoma. 57 (28.07%) patients showed facial paralysis with a higher rate of occurrence in total parotidectomy (40.90%). Among 57 patients with facial paralysis, 6 (10.53%) showed permanent facial paralysis. Conclusion: Tendency of permanent facial paralysis is high with total parotidectomies. Female population and elderly have a slightly higher rate of facial paralysis. The duration of procedure has no effect on the occurrence of facial paralysis.