CT manifestations and differential diagnosis of basal cell adenomas of the parotid gland

Objective:To investigate the CT manifestations of basal cell adenoma(BCA) of the parotid gland.Methods:CT features of 9 patients with BCA of the parotid gland confirmed by surgery and pathology were retrospectively analyzed.The location,shape,size,number,CT features without and with dual-phase enhancement of the lesions were studied and CT characteristics were compared with that of pleomorphic adenoma(n=31) and adenolymphoma(n=19) in the same period.Results:All 9 patients had solitary BAC lesion,which located at the superficial lobe of parotid gland(n=6) and involved both the superficial and deep lobe(n=3).The lesions were all well-defined.Cystic degeneration was displayed in 4 lesions,among them,cystic areas was ≥50% in 3 lesions.One lesion had curvilinear calcification at the edge of tumor.All lesions were significantly enhanced,enhancement of BCA was stronger than that of pleomorphic adenoma in arterial phase,and was stronger than that of pleomorphic adenoma and adenolymphoma in venous phase,with significant statistic differences(P0.01).Conclusions:Certain characteristic CT manifestations could be revealed in BCA,which could contribute to make a specific diagnosis when in combination with clinical features.