Imaging, clinical and pathological features of salivary gland adenolymphoma

C.-H. Liang, W.-Y. DI, J.-P. Ren, F.-M. Zhou, Y. Hu, H.-J. Mao, D.-M. Han

Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Weihui, Henan, China. xxyxy2010@126.com

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• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: Adenolymphoma (Warthin’s tumor) is a common salivary gland benign tumors with poor diagnosis and ranking second after the parotid tumors. Presently, a rising tendency of the incidence of adenolymphoma has been noted. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical, pathological and imaging features of this tumor.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: 24 cases of confirmed adenolymphoma were retrospectively analyzed with clinical features, pathological data and CT imaging.

RESULTS: Among 24 cases, 22 (91.7%) patients were male, two patients were female, 23 (95.8%) patients were more than 50 years old; 38 lesions were found in 24 patients including isolated lesions in 16 patients (66.7%), and multiple lesions in 8 patients (33.3%). 81.6% adenolymphoma lesions (31/38) were located in the posterior and inferior quadrant. The shapes of lesions were more oval or round, well-circumscribed, homogeneous (n=26) or inhomogeneous (n=12) with high density. 27 lesions were demonstrated with enhancement after contrast enhancement and 10 lesions showed small vessels penetrating through or surrounding the mass.

CONCLUSIONS: Adenolymphoma of the parotid (Warthin tumor) should be first considered by the clinical data including age, gender, location and imaging manifestations of the lesions.