The incidence of Warthin tumours and pleomorphic adenomas in the parotid gland over a 25-year period

Clin Otolaryngol. 2016 Dec;41(6):793-797. doi: 10.1111/coa.12694. Epub 2016 Jul 18.

Abstract

Objectives: Pleomorphic adenoma (PA) is reported to be the most common benign parotid tumour followed by Warthin tumour (WT), but the proportion of these two entities might have changed.

Design: Retrospective file analysis.

Setting: Tertiary referral head and neck centre.

Participants: Patients who underwent a parotidectomy within a period of 25 years (1990-2014).

Main outcome measures: Rate of occurrence of PA and WT as well as the development of the PA/WT ratio over the years.

Results: Overall, 1818 patients with WT (707, 38.9%) and PA (1111, 61.1%) were identified. There was a dominance of PA over WT in all years. An increase in percentage of WT, from 24% in 1990 to 48% in 2014, in comparison with PA was evident.

Conclusions: In our single-institution hospital-based material of parotidectomies, the percentage of WT in comparison with PA has significantly increased over the last 25 years.

MeSH terms

  • Adenolymphoma / complications
  • Adenolymphoma / epidemiology*
  • Adenolymphoma / pathology
  • Adenoma, Pleomorphic / complications
  • Adenoma, Pleomorphic / epidemiology*
  • Adenoma, Pleomorphic / pathology
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Parotid Neoplasms / complications
  • Parotid Neoplasms / epidemiology*
  • Parotid Neoplasms / pathology
  • Retrospective Studies