SALIVARY-GLAND LESIONS WITH A PROMINENT LYMPHOID COMPONENT - CYTOLOGIC FINDINGS AND DIFFERENTIAL-DIAGNOSIS BY FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION BIOPSY

Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) is an accepted technique for-tile preoper ative diagnosis of salivary gland nodules. The majority of salivary gl and nodules are pleomorphic adenomas and offer little difficulty in di agnosis. Most diagnostically difficult lesions fall into one of four m orphologic categories represented by squamous-cell-containing lesions, clear cell neoplasms, neoplasms with a pi-eminence of stromal materia l, and lymphocyte-containing lesions. Herein, we describe our experien ce with a series of 61 histologically confirmed cases in which the sme ars contained a prominent or predominant number of lymphocytes. The di fferential diagnosis is discussed and points of diagnostic aid enumera ted. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.