OBJECTIVE: To provide surgical references for selecting appropriate parotidectomy incisions, reviewing modified approaches, incision designs, and associated complications.
METHODS: We have systematically searched 5 medical literature databases examining parotidectomy incision designs and postoperative complications from 2008 to 2021.
RESULTS: There are a total of 9 novel incision designs: 1) posterior auricular hairline incision (PAHI); 2) combined preauricular and retroauricular incision (CPRI); 3) V-shaped incision (VI); 4) N-shaped incision (NI); 5) postaural incision (PI); 6) preauricular crutch incision (PCI); and 7) endaural incision (EI). Simultaneously, there are a total of 8 postoperative complications: 1) infection; 2) salivary fistula; 3) facial nerve palsy/paresis; 4) ear lobule numbness; 5) Frey syndrome; 6) facial deformity; 7) hematoma; and 8) tumor reoccurrence.
CONCLUSIONS: Over the last decade, a surge in modified parotidectomy incisions has been witnessed in clinical practice. This expansion is attributed to rapid technical advancements and a deeper understanding of anatomy and histopathology. These modified approaches contribute significantly to improving cosmetic outcomes, minimizing associated complications, and enhancing patient satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: Salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) is an aggressive form of cancer, with cutaneous metastasis being a rare occurrence. Furthermore, cutaneous metastasis of SDC secondary to a scald is even rarer, and to the best of our knowledge, our case represents the first such instance. Considering the involvement of the fingers in the metastatic site, which may affect limb function and quality of life, we present this case to explore the reason why scald could lead to distant recurrence and better treatment options.
METHODS: An 85-year-old man diagnosed with SDC in the parotid gland found enlarged masses at the fingertips as a consequence of a burn, 6 years after his initial treatment.
METHODS: Cutaneous metastasis of SDC in the parotid gland and left thumb loss due to surgery.
METHODS: Radiotherapy was offered, targeting at the masses on the fingers, with dose at 15 Gy in 3 fractions, 12 Gy in 3 fractions, 15 Gy in 3 fractions for both hands and additional 21 Gy in 7 fractions only for left hand.
RESULTS: The tumors shrank after 2 months of radiotherapy and the patient recovered well. Side effects included nail hyperplasia and paronychia.
CONCLUSIONS: Connections between scald and distant metastasis of malignant tumors in this case needed further investigation. Considering reserving function of the fingers while dealing with metastasis, radiotherapy is recommended rather than surgery.

It is well known that the digastric posterior belly is one of the essential landmarks for facial nerve identification during parotid surgery. While there were multiple reports about variations of the digastric anterior belly, only a few anatomical variations of the posterior belly of the digastric muscle have been described.In this article, we describe an anatomical variation of the posterior belly of digastric muscle found during superficial parotidectomy of a patient with pleomorphic adenoma. This anatomical variation also led to an anatomical variation in the position of the facial nerve.To our knowledge, this is the first report of an absent posterior belly of digastric muscle found during live parotid surgery. The knowledge of current anatomical variation may help to avoid facial nerve injury during parotid surgery and preserve the function of muscles of facial expression.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the ultrasound, CT and MRI manifestations of Warthin-like mucoepidermoid carcinoma (WT-MEC), and to explore its imaging characteristics, so as to provide reference for clinical and preoperative diagnosis.
METHODS: The clinical information and imaging data of ultrasound, CT and MRI of 12 patients with WT-MEC diagnosed by pathology in Shanghai Ninth People\'s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from January 2017 to December 2021 were collected, and their specific characteristics were retrospectively summarized.
RESULTS: Among the 12 WT-MEC patients, there were 7 males and 5 females, with an average age of (42.7±16) years. Seven cases underwent ultrasound examination, 6 cases underwent CT examination, and 2 cases underwent MRI examination. Radiologically, all the lesions presented as a solitary mass. 11/12 lesions(91.7%) were identified as well-defined margins, and 10/12(83.3%) as solid-cystic masses. All solid-cystic lesions contained multiple cystic areas with variable sizes. On US images, most lesions showed mixed-echoic echogenicity(5/7, 71.4%), poor vascularization (6/7, 85.7%) and acoustic enhancement (6/7, 85.7%). CT revealed all the lesions (6/6, 100%) as a soft-tissue mass with heterogeneous enhancement (5/6, 83.3%). MRI imaging demonstrated the neoplasm with low or iso-signal intensity on plain T1WI and hyperintensity on T2WI. The heterogeneous enhancement was shown on contrast-enhanced T1WI.
CONCLUSIONS: Most WT-MECs represent as a solitary, well-defined, solid-cystic mass in the parotid gland. The neoplasm may be characterized by the multiple and variable-sized cystic components within the tumor.

Parotid gland pathology represents a web of differential diagnoses. There are many complex cases that require extensive diagnostic tests for a complete and correct final pathology diagnosis. Currently the official classification of parotid gland tumors extends over more than 40 subtypes. We performed a query of the PubMed database regarding the use of molecular biology tests in performing a better characterization of the tumors in specific cases. By using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or next-generation sequencing, the team managing complex cases can offer a personalized therapeutic solution. We review the molecular differential diagnosis according to published articles in the last 5 years for many types of parotid gland tumors ranging from benign to borderline malign tumors to malign aggressive tumors. Mucoepidermoid carcinoma is a distinct subtype of parotid malignancy that was the subject of a consistent number of articles. However, the molecular biology diagnosis techniques helped more in excluding the diagnosis of mucoepidermoid carcinoma, and probably retrospectively limiting the number of cases with this final diagnosis. In Romania, the molecular biology diagnosis is available only in limited research facilities and should receive more consistent funding that will make it available on a larger scale. The novelty of this scoping review is that we propose an algorithm for molecular differential diagnosis of the tumors that could be encountered in the parotid gland.

When neglected for a long time, salivary gland pleomorphic adenoma (PA) can attain a considerable size, increasing the patient\'s morbidity along with the risk of malignant transformation. Very few case reports are available describing PA of the parotid glands presenting as a large cervicofacial mass. We report a case of epithelial myoepithelial carcinoma -a rare subtype of carcinoma ex-PA (Ca-Ex-PA) of non-luminal differentiation, that developed over a long period in a primary PA of the parotid gland and presented as a giant cervicofacial mass.

Extranodal involvement in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is defined as disease outside of the lymph nodes and occurs in up to one-third of patients, though multiorgan extranodal involvement is rare. Here, we describe a case of a patient presenting with widely metastatic lesions, including involvement of the lung, parotid gland, breast, pancreas, femur and multiple soft tissue masses, with initial concern for primary breast malignancy. Breast pathology and imaging were consistent with triple-expressor, double-hit stage IV high-grade B-cell lymphoma with extensive extranodal involvement. Extranodal involvement is a poor prognostic factor associated with high rates of treatment failure, and novel therapies targeting CD19 are currently being studied for relapsed and refractory DLBCL. Extranodal disease is a complex entity that can involve virtually any organ system and should be considered for new presentations of malignancy.

BACKGROUND: Parotid gland carcinoma (PGC) is a rare malignant tumor. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of immune-inflammatory-nutrition indicators and age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index score (ACCI) of PGC and develop the nomogram model for predicting prognosis.
METHODS: All patients diagnosed with PGC in two tertiary hospitals, treated with surgical resection, from March 2012 to June 2018 were obtained. Potential prognostic factors were identified by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. The nomogram models were established based on these identified independent prognostic factors. The performance of the developed prognostic model was estimated by related indexes and plots.
RESULTS: The study population consisted of 344 patients with PGC who underwent surgical resection, 285 patients without smoking (82.8%), and 225 patients (65.4%) with mucoepidermoid carcinoma, with a median age of 50.0 years. American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage (p < 0.001), pathology (p = 0.019), tumor location (p < 0.001), extranodal extension (ENE) (p < 0.001), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) (p = 0.004), prognostic nutrition index (PNI) (p = 0.003), ACCI (p < 0.001), and Glasgow prognostic Score (GPS) (p = 0.001) were independent indicators for disease free survival (DFS). Additionally, the independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) including AJCC stage (p = 0.015), pathology (p = 0.004), tumor location (p < 0.001), perineural invasion (p = 0.009), ENE (p < 0.001), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) (p = 0.001), PNI (p = 0.001), ACCI (p = 0.003), and GPS (p = 0.033). The nomogram models for predicting DFS and OS in PGC patients were generated based on these independent risk factors. All nomogram models show good discriminative capability with area under curves (AUCs) over 0.8 (DFS 0.802, and OS 0.825, respectively). Decision curve analysis (DCA), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and net reclassification index (NRI) show good clinical net benefit of the two nomograms in both training and validation cohorts. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses showed superior discrimination of DFS and OS in the new risk stratification system compared with the AJCC stage system. Finally, postoperative patients with PGC who underwent adjuvant radiotherapy had a better prognosis in the high-, and medium-risk subgroups (p < 0.05), but not for the low-risk subgroup.
CONCLUSIONS: The immune-inflammatory-nutrition indicators and ACCI played an important role in both DFS and OS of PGC patients. Adjuvant radiotherapy had no benefit in the low-risk subgroup for PGC patients who underwent surgical resection. The newly established nomogram models perform well and can provide an individualized prognostic reference, which may be helpful for patients and surgeons in proper follow-up strategies.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the added value of extracellular volume fraction (ECV) and arterial enhancement fraction (AEF) derived from enhanced CT to conventional image and clinical features for differentiating between pleomorphic adenoma (PA) and atypical parotid adenocarcinoma (PCA) pre-operation.
METHODS: From January 2010 to October 2023, a total of 187 cases of parotid tumors were recruited, and divided into training cohort (102 PAs and 51 PCAs) and testing cohort (24 PAs and 10 atypical PCAs). Clinical and CT image features of tumor were assessed. Both enhanced CT-derived ECV and AEF were calculated. Univariate analysis identified variables with statistically significant differences between the two subgroups in the training cohort. Multivariate logistic regression analysis with the forward variable selection method was used to build four models (clinical model, clinical model+ECV, clinical model+AEF, and combined model). Diagnostic performances were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. Delong\'s test compared model differences, and calibration curve and decision curve analysis (DCA) assessed calibration and clinical application.
RESULTS: Age and boundary were chosen to build clinical model, and to construct its ROC curve. Amalgamating the clinical model, ECV, and AEF to establish a combined model demonstrated superior diagnostic effectiveness compared to the clinical model in both the training and test cohorts (AUC = 0.888, 0.867). There was a significant statistical difference between the combined model and the clinical model in the training cohort (p = 0.0145).
CONCLUSIONS: ECV and AEF are helpful in differentiating PA and atypical PCA, and integrating clinical and CT image features can further improve the diagnostic performance.

Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma of the parotid gland is an extremely rare tumor, with only six cases reported in the literature. A 51-year-old female had a 3.0 cm tumor resected from the right parotid gland. The tumor exhibited solid sheets, whorls, fascicular pattern, and syncytium appearance with an indistinct cell border. The lymphocytic infiltrate was sprinkled throughout the neoplasm, with focal prominent perivascular cuffing. Immunohistochemically, it was positive for follicular dendritic cell markers CD21, CD23, and CD35. We aim to enhance the understanding of this neoplasm and alert pathologists to this rare entity in this region to avoid misdiagnosis.