AN ANALYSIS OF CYTOLOGICAL SPECTRUM OF SALIVARY GLAND LESIONS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN SOUTH INDIA

Introduction: Salivary gland tumors are uncommon neoplasm of head and neck tumors. FNAC can provide cytological categorization of salivary gland lesions for guiding the surgeons to make treatment decisions. This study is intended to analyze the cytological spectrum of salivary gland lesions in Aims and Objectives: correlation with age, gender, and site of the lesion. A total of 222 cases are included in this study spanning a period Methods: from January 2015 to December 2018. The clinical data pertaining to patients' age, sex and anatomical site were recorded. Cytological smears were reviewed. The clinical features, imaging ?ndings, cytopathology and histopathology ?ndings were analyzed. In this three year study period, out of 222 cases, 129 cases were non-neoplastic and 93 cases were Results: neoplastic. Commonest gland involved was parotid gland followed by submandibular gland. Malignant lesions accounted for about 17.2% of the neoplastic lesions. In our study, majority of lesions are non-neoplastic. Among them Conclusion: sialadenitis was the most commonly encountered lesion. Among benign neoplasm, pleomorphic adenoma was the most common neoplasm with slight female preponderance. Among malignant tumors, mucoepidermoid carcinoma was the most common malignant tumor