Clinicopathologic and Surgical Study of Pleomorphic Adenoma of the Parotid Gland: Analysis of Risk Factors for Recurrence and Facial Nerve Dysfunction.

PURPOSE: To determine whether clinicopathologic or surgical features are risk factors for recurrence and facial nerve dysfunction in pleomorphic adenoma (PA) of the parotid gland.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The records of 198 patients surgically treated for a PA of the parotid gland from 1999 through 2013 were retrospectively reviewed to identify patients who developed a tumor recurrence. The Fisher exact test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze patient characteristics between recurrent and non-recurrent PAs. Logistic regression was used to determine the risks of recurrence and facial nerve dysfunction.

RESULTS: Twenty-three patients (11.6%) developed a recurrence. Patients with tumor recurrence were notably younger than patients without recurrence. Of the 14 patients who underwent enucleation, 11 (78.6%) developed residual disease, as did 10 of 165 patients (6%) managed by a superficial parotidectomy (P < .0005). Furthermore, the risk of residual disease was 9.3 to 21.6 times higher in patients who underwent enucleation than in those who underwent a total or superficial parotidectomy. For tumor histology, recurrence was observed in 3 (15.8%) of the 19 cellular types, 18 (11.5%) of 157 classic cases, and 1 (4.8%) of 21 myxoid cases (P = .5). The risk of recurrence with positive resection margins was 49 times higher than with negative margins (P = .001).

CONCLUSION: Young age, enucleation, and positive margins are risk factors for residual pleomorphic adenoma, and surgical technique and histomorphologic features are associated with increased facial nerve dysfunction.