Abstract
Xanthogranulomatous sialadenitis (XGS) is rare in salivary glands and only reported in the literature as single cases. Here we report a cohort of four cases with XGS and summarize the clinicopathologic features of these cases. All four patients had persistent mass lesions concerning for neoplasm. In two patients (patient 1 and 3), the initial fine needle aspirations (FNAs) contained oncocytic cells consistent with or suspicious for Warthin’s tumor, but follow-up FNAs showed only inflammation and/or debris indicating tumor infarction after FNA. All patients eventually had surgical resection. Histologically, all cases contained abundant macrophages with necrosis and fibroblastic proliferation. Warthin’s tumor with a grossly identifiable tumor nodule (0.7 cm) was noted in patient 1 and a microscopic focus (0.2 cm) of Warthin’s tumor was identified in patient 3. No identifiable tumor was observed in patient 2 and 4. There are a total of 10 XGS cases in the literature (including four from this series) and Warthin tumor was identified in 50% of reported cases of XGS, suggesting that XGS is an uncommon reactive process to spontaneous or procedure-induced infarction of Warthin tumor. As a diagnostic mimicker for malignancy, a thorough examination and generous sampling of surgical resection specimen is warranted, although a benign salivary gland neoplasm, commonly Warthin’s tumor, is often identified.
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Bu, L., Zhu, H., Racila, E. et al. Xanthogranulomatous Sialadenitis, an Uncommon Reactive Change is Often Associated with Warthin’s Tumor. Head and Neck Pathol 14, 525–532 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12105-019-01066-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12105-019-01066-6