Quantitative diagnosis of salivary gland tumors with contrast-enhanced ultrasound-a preliminary study

Objective. To quantitatively analyze the value of qualitative diagnosis of salivary gland masses with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). Study Design. The enhanced sonographic features of 68 salivary gland masses were analyzed to differentiate them. The final diagnoses were confirmed by biopsy pathology. Results. We observed from the perfusion kinetics of CEUS that most pleomorphic adenomas manifested lower enhancement and well-defined margins; most Warthin tumors presented with higher enhancement and well-defined margins; and most malignant tumors had higher enhancement and poorly defined margins. Their time-intensity curves showed pleomorphic adenomas were hypovascularized with a poor perfusion, whereas Warthin tumors and malignant tumors were hypervascularized with a rich perfusion. Additionally, malignant tumors showed significantly shortened time to peak and richer maximum signal intensity compared with Warthin tumors. Conclusions. The features of salivary gland masses identified with CEUS were helpful in the differential diagnosis of salivary gland masses.