Two for the price of one multiple parotid neoplasms
Reviewed by Adam Shakir

With advancing years come many benefits, but one drawback is the acquisition of parotid (or thyroid) neoplasms. Conventional teaching is that most are benign and slowly enlarge, and not infrequently are found bilaterally as in Warthin’s. Pleomorphic adenomas are also commonly encountered, but usually are solitary. This case series from Essex describes three such cases from 70 patients treated by a single surgeon. All three patients had a solitary parotid lump that was clinically apparent and brought them to the attention of maxillofacial surgeons. Further radiological investigation by MRI demonstrated additional lesions within the same parotid gland. Patients were successfully treated by extracapsular dissection or superficial parotidectomy, with no recurrence on follow-up declared. There is no definite aetiology given for these synchronous tumours, but the authors emphasise the importance of preoperative imaging; MRI and USS being the favoured modalities. Do synchronous parotid tumours merit the use of superficial parotidectomy over extracapsular dissection? This author believes there is merit in being able to perform both.

Multiple, synchronous, unilateral parotid adenomas: a case series.
Andrews L, Shah N.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY
2015;53:526-8.