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DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1731973
Mélange of Lymphoepithelial Lesions of Salivary Glands from a Tertiary Care Center of North East India: Diagnostic Conundrums
Abstract
Background Lymphocytic infiltrates of the major salivary glands are involved in a spectrum of diseases that range from reactive to benign and malignant neoplasms. Occasionally, these pathologic entities present difficulties in the clinical and pathological diagnosis.
Aim and Objective The aim of this study was to highlight the importance of meticulous cytopathological and histopathological examination (HPE) in solving the diagnostic challenges encountered in the analysis of these salivary gland lesions.
Materials and Methods A retrospective analysis of salivary gland lesions was undertaken over a period of 5 years from 2013 to 2018 in the Department of Pathology at our institute. Salivary gland pathologies diagnosed either as chronic sialadenitis or reactive/benign/malignant lymphoepithelial lesions on fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and as lymphoepithelial carcinoma (LEC) were included in this study.
Results A total of 86 cases of salivary gland lesions diagnosed as mentioned above were found during this period. Out of the 86 cases, 16 were subjected to HPE. Biopsy was not warranted in most of the cases diagnosed as chronic sialadenitis. HPE was concordant with the FNAC diagnoses in 13 out of the 16 cases (81.3%), with a single case misinterpreted as LEC on FNAC.
Conclusion Benign and malignant lymphoepithelial lesions of salivary glands may sometimes be difficult to differentiate not only from one another on FNAC but also from other malignant lesions. FNAC is an effective tool for the diagnosis of nonneoplastic lesions, but in cases of benign lymphoepithelial lesions in the absence of salivary acini, biopsy is advisable.
Publication History
Article published online:
12 July 2021
© 2021. The Indian Association of Laboratory Physicians. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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