Unusual neck mass in an adolescent: benign basal cell adenoma of the minorsalivary glands of the piriform sinus

With an incidence of less than 3%, salivary gland tumors are rare in the he ad and neck. The percentage of basal cell adenomas within the group of sali vary gland tumors is even less (0.2-2%). Salivary gland tumors occur very r arely in adolescents. The basal cell adenoma commonly affects older persons and occurs most frequently in the major salivary glands. We present the un usual case of a benign basal cell adenoma of the minor salivary glands of t he piriform sinus in a 14 year old male patient. Unusual are the age of the patient, the histological type, size and localisation of the turner. (C) 2 001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.