Sonoelastographic qualitative analysis for management of salivary gland masses.

OBJECTIVES:

Our aim was to investigate whether the use of a qualitative elasticity scoring method by sonoelastography is beneficial for management of salivary gland masses.

METHODS:

Thirty-six patients with salivary gland masses (30 parotid and 6 sub-mandibular) were prospectively included in this study. For each lesion, B-mode sonographic and sonoelastographic images were obtained. Elasticity scores were determined by a 4-point scoring method. Differences among scores for benign and malignant masses were assessed by the Mann-Whitney U test. Qualitative variables were compared by the Pearson χ² test. The findings were compared with histopathologic diagnoses.

RESULTS:

The score values of 28 benign masses ranged from 1 to 4, whereas the values of 8 malignant masses ranged from 2 to 4. The mean scores ± SD were 2.25 ± 0.92 for benign lesions and 3.0 ± 0.75 for malignant lesions (P < .05). When we considered scores 1 and 2 as benign and scores 3 and 4 as malignant, 10 false-positive results were determined by the 4-point scoring method, and 64.2% of benign masses were diagnosed.

CONCLUSIONS:

Sonoelastography might be regarded as another sonographic parameter for management of salivary gland masses in terms of detecting benign masses.