Abstract
Adenolymphoma accounts for about 5% of all parotid gland tumors. This tumor grows slowly with no pain. The majority of this tumor appears unilaterally in the inferior pole of the superficial part of the parotid gland. Although very rare, around 7% of those tumors appear bilaterally. This is the particular character of adenolymphoma, since almost none of the other salivary gland tumors appears bilaterally. The following report describes a rare case of bilateral adenolymphoma of the parotid glands with 17-year interval.
A 51-year-old male was referred to our department in December 1979 because of swelling near the left parotid gland. On the first visit, although otherwise asymptomatic, a tumor of the size of the tip of a finger was found by palpation. Clinically, it appeared as a slow-growing, hard, nontender mass over the inferior pole of the parotid gland. The tumor, which was located at the inferior pole of the superficial part of the parotid gland with no adherence to the parotid gland, was surgically excised. Pathological examination revealed this lesion to be an adenolymphoma. Curiously, on January 1995, the same patient who had become 67 years old noticed a clinically similar mass over the inferior pole of the right parotid gland. CT scan revealed the mass on the right parotid gland without any invasive character. Therefore, the mass was surgically excised and revealed it to be an adenolymphoma again. The characters except the side difference was the same as the left Warthin's tumor.
