Diagnostic value of preoperative computed tomography (CT-scan) in salivary gland tumors: a 14-year retrospective analysis.
AI interpretation is pending for this paper.
Open original publication →What the AI sees
Not AI summarized yet.
Research significance
Pending deeper interpretation.
Source abstract
BACKGROUND: Although relatively rare, major salivary gland tumors pose notable diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Accurate preoperative differentiation between benign and malignant lesions is crucial for preoperative surgical planning and better outcomes. Computed tomography (CT-scan) is widely used due to its accessibility and detailed anatomical imaging. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of preoperative CT-scan in distinguishing malignant from benign major salivary gland tumors, using histopathology diagnosis as the reference standard. METHODS: This retrospective study included 90 patients who underwent surgery for major salivary gland tumors between 2005 and 2019. Preoperative CT-scans were reviewed for radiologic signs of malignancy and compared with histopathological results. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and area under the ROC curve (AUC) were calculated. RESULTS: Of the 90 tumors, 20 (22.2%) were malignant and 70 (77.8%) benign. CT-scan identified 12 true positives and 61 true negatives, with 10 false positives and 7 false negatives. Sensitivity was 63.2%, specificity 85.9%, PPV 54.5%, NPV 89.7%, and AUC 0.75. CONCLUSION: Preoperative CT-scan demonstrates high specificity and NPV for benign tumors but limited sensitivity for malignancies. Histological confirmation remains essential in cases with indeterminate or challenging preoperative imaging features, supporting the use of multimodal diagnostic approaches.