Four Cases of Recurrent Parotid Pleomorphic Adenoma

Abstract

We examined four patients who underwent reoperations for recurrent parotid pleomorphic adenoma in our department. All four patients had multi-focal recurrent nodules following one or three prior surgical procedures. The surgical procedures included a total parotidectomy in two patients and a superficial parotidectomy in two patients; an antegrade technique was used for two patients and a retrograde technique was used for the other two patients. There were two incidents of transient facial nerve palsy after the operations, but both patients recovered within six months. None of the patients experienced further recurrence after the reoperations. Retrograde nerve dissection is useful, and possibly essential, for the treatment of recurrent pleomorphic adenoma of the parotid gland. However, long-term follow up for these tumors is needed because of the high rate of recurrence for recurrent parotid pleomorphic adenoma.