Parotid Lesions in Children Undergoing Parotidectomy. The Children’s Memorial Hospital Experience

Pediatric salivary gland disease represents a very small portion of the pathology that we see among children and as such, it represents a very small part of what head and neck surgeons treat. The majority of salivary gland masses occur within the parotid gland [1-4]. Parotid gland lesions are infrequent in children. Less than 5% of all salivary gland neoplasms occur in this population and less than 10% of pediatric head and neck tumors originate from the salivary glands [5,6]. Many different pathologies can originate within the parotid gland. Benign causes include, among others, lymphatic malformations, hemangiomas and branchial cleft cysts. Due to the close proximity of several lymph nodes other inflammatory causes are also a possibility such as atypical mycobacterial infections. The rate of malignancy within parotid gland masses has been noted to be higher in the pediatric population than in adults [3,7]. This malignancy rate in pediatric parotid masses has been noted in the literature to be as high as 41% [8,9]. More recently, Camacho and colleagues challenged that rate in their study by noting a much lower 4% malignancy rate [9].