Analysis of CT manifestations of mucoepidermoid carcinoma in parotid gland

QIU Huan; JIANG Mingxiang; SHAO Guoliang; CHENG Guoping

Abstract：Objective To investigate the CT findings of mucoepidermoid carcinoma(MEC)in parotid gland in order to en-hance the diagnostic accuracy of this disease.Methods CT findings of 20 patients with pathologically proved MEC were retro-spectively reviewed.Those 20 patients included 7 men and 13 women,with a median age of 45.6 years old.The tumor location, size,morphology,edge,CT density,and enhancement characteristics were all analyzed in this work.Results Each of those 20 patients had only 1 tumor.Eleven lesions were located in the superficial lobe,6 lesions in the deep lobe and 3 lesions across the deep and superficial lobe.The maximum diameter of lesions ranged from 0.6 to 3.8 cm.Five cases were demonstrated to be round or oval round masses, fifteen cases demonstrated to be irregular masses, eight lesions showed to be well defined margin, and twelve lesions showed to be ill defined edge.Among them, the peritumoral fat tissues were blurred in 4 cases, the local preauricular skin was invaded in 3 cases and the retromandibular vein was embedded in 2 cases.The densities were homogeneous in 6 cases and unhomogeneous in 14 cases.Compared to normal muscle,12 cases manifested as isodensity and 8 cases manifested as slight low-density on CT plain scan.No lesions were shown calcification.On post contrast images,lesions were demonstrated remarkable enhancement in 13 cases, moderate enhancement in 5 cases, and slight enhancement in 2 cases.Enlarged cervical lymph nodes were found in 3 cases(15%).Conclusion Infiltrative and ill defined single masses located in the superficial lobe with marked enhancement and lumen formed,accompanied with obviously enhanced cervical lymphnodes,which can indicate the diagnosis of MEC.CT examinations can accurately demonstrate the extent of tumor involvement and provide more comprehensive information for the strategy of clinic therapy.