Granulomatous pathology in salivary glands: a secondary health care center experience

Introduction: The diagnosis of parotid tuberculosis requires a high degree of clinical suspicion, so as to avoid unnecessary surgery, and fine-needle aspiration cytology is an easy and reliable investigation for the same. Salivary glands are suitable for unguided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) because of their superficial location. Methods: The present study involved a total of 42 cases of salivary gland swellings in which fine needle aspiration cytology was performed in the department of pathology of our hospital from December 2011 to August 2019. Results: The prevalence of granulomatous inflammation among salivary gland swellings was 38.1 % (n=16). Anti-tubercular treatment was given in 5 patients, all of whom showed improvement after anti-tubercular treatment. Therefore, 5 out of the total of 16 cases were a case of tuberculous parotitis (31.2 %). Conclusion: Although tuberculous parotitis is a rare entity, it should be always kept in mind as a differential during the evaluation of solitary parotid mass lesion. Fine needle aspiration cytology of all mass lesions of salivary glands must be done before doing excision of salivary gland so as to avoid unnecessary surgery.