[01] Hasan Abdullah Mohamed Al-thulaia, Faculty of Dentistry, Khartoum University, Khartoum, Sudan. [02] Elneel Ahmed Mohamed, Depatment of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Khartoum University, Khartoum, Sudan. [03] Ahmed Omer Almobarak, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST), Khartoum, Sudan.

Background/Objective: Parotid gland swellings are known of their diverse histological presentation. The tumors of this region comprise 3% of all head and neck tumors, and 0.6% of all tumors of the human body. The objective of the study was to analyse and interpret FNAC accuracy and utility for parotid swellings. Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study, it was conducted at Khartoum Teaching Dental Hospital (KTDH) during a period from 2011 to 2015. Patients included in the study underwent FNAC and then subsequent surgery for the parotid mass. A comparison between FNAC and histopathological results was made. Results: The average age of the encountered patients was 44 years. There were 27 (49%) males and 28 (51%) females. The FNAC smear was non diagnostic in one case (1.8%). The cytological diagnosis showed that 13 cases (23.64%) were true-positive, 35 cases (63.64%) true-negative, and 6 cases (10.61%) false-negative. The accuracy in detecting malignant tumors was 88.89%, with 64.4% sensitivity, and 100% specificity. The positive and negative predictive values were 100% and 85.4% respectively. Conclusion: The study showed that the preoperative FNAC has an important role in the accurate diagnosis of parotid swellings. Though biopsy is the golden standard, FNAC is well tolerated, easy to perform, safe and cost effective procedure, without contraindications to its use. However FNAC may not specify types of malignancy, a factor which is important in preparing both surgeon and patient for an appropriate surgery.

Fine-Needle Aspiration, Parotid Tumor, Salivary Gland, Preoperative Evaluation, False-Negative Results

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