HISTOPATHOLOGICAL CORRELATION OF FINE NEEDLE ASPIRATION BIOPSY IN SALIVARY GLAND PATHOLOGIES

Material and Methods: Medical records of 88 patients who were operated for salivary gland masses in our clinic between 2015-2020 were retrospectively examined. The cases were analyzed by comparing the results of the preoperative ultrasound (USG) guided FNAB and the histopathological results after the surgery. As a result of this analysis, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy rate of the FNAB procedure were determined.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 53.8 years and 43 female and 45 male patients were operated due to salivary gland masses. 51 of the masses were in the parotid gland, 32 in the submandibular gland and 5 in the minor salivary glands. When the results of FNAB were examined, squamous cell carcinoma was most common as malignant and pleomorphic adenoma was most common as benign. In salivary gland masses, the sensitivity of FNAB was 80%, specificity 93.2%, positive predictive value 81.8%, negative predictive value 96.3% and accuracy rate 89.8%. It was observed that 40% of the cases whose FNAB results were reported as suspicious were histopathologically associated with malignancy.

Conclusion: In salivary gland masses, FNAB is a reliable method with high sensitivity and specificity. Masses reported as suspicious as a result of FNAB are highly likely to be malignant, and in these cases, clinicians need to be more careful in treatment planning. Keywords : Salivary gland masses, fine needle aspiration biopsy, tumor, sensitivity, specificity