The location of parotid gland tumors in relation to the facial nerve on magnetic resonance images and computed tomography scans.

PURPOSE

The facial nerve, which cannot be visualized radiographically in its intraparotid part, divides the parotid gland into 2 lobes. When planning surgery, it is important to know where to locate a parotid gland tumor in relation to the facial nerve, because the location can influence the duration and difficulty of the operation. In this study, an anatomic line that predicts the course of the facial nerve in the parotid gland, is applied clinically and compared with another line recently described to evaluate the usefulness of both tools in the use of computed tomography scans and magnetic resonance images.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We reviewed 28 scans (15 computed tomography and 13 magnetic resonance) and used both lines to predict tumor location in the parotid gland. The accuracy of each prediction was checked later by referring to the surgical report.

RESULTS

This new anatomic line helped us to correctly predict tumor location in relation to the facial nerve in 24 cases (85.7%), whereas the other line was helpful in 20 cases (71.4%).

CONCLUSION

Our new line may be a very useful tool to predict the location of parotid gland tumors.