Cases of salivary gland lesions (n = 325), mainly neoplastic but including a small number of non-neoplastic lesions, investigated by fine needle aspiration (FNA) and with histological correlation, are reviewed. The review identified a number of differential diagnostic problems which are discussed in some detail. One false-positive and eight false-negative diagnoses had been made resulting in a 99.5% specificity and a 85.5% sensitivity. If type-specific diagnoses are made only when all defined diagnostic criteria are present and if any uncertainty is clearly conveyed to the clinician, FNA is a safe and accurate tool in the investigation of salivary gland lesions.

A review of pitfalls encountered in fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of all organs and tissues and based mainly on the author's 35-year experience of diagnostic FNAC in clinical practice is presented. Diagnostic difficulties are usually related to deviations from common cytological criteria that may occur in some lesions. Others are due to the effects of the sampling procedure or of the preparation of samples. A few basic rules are proposed, which may help to avoid some of the diagnostic pitfalls.

Although there is some variation in the histological pattern from case to case, lymphadenoma is a morphologically recognizable salivary gland adenoma characterized by a dense lymphoid infiltrate. Lack of familiarity with this tumour may lead to misdiagnosis as myoepithelial sialadenitis, lymphoma, metastatic carcinoma in lymph node or lymphoepithelial carcinoma.

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