Background:

Extranodal lymphomas of the head and neck (ELHN) are rare neoplasms. The role of surgery for the diagnosis justifies thinking of these neoplasms among the differential diagnoses of the surgical disorders of the region.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to describe the clinical and pathological characteristics of ELHN, their location and association with systemic diseases in a series of patients undergoing surgery.

Material and methods:

The clinical records of 5489 patients undergoing surgery between June 2009 and June 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Nineteen patients (0.35%) presented ELHN.

Results:

Mean age was 56 years (range: 17-84; SD 19.3) and 84% (n = 16) were women. The location of ELHN were the parotid gland (n =12, 63%), submaxillary gland (n = 3, 16%), salivary gland (n = 1, 5%), lacrimal gland (n = 1, 5%) and thyroid gland (n =1, 5%). All the tumors were non-Hodgkin lymphomas with the following subtypes: mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma (n = 9, 48%), follicular lymphoma (n = 4, 21%), large B-cell lymphoma (n = 3, 16%), small B-cell lymphoma (n = 1, 5%), mantle cell lymphoma (n = 1, 5%), and anaplastic lymphoma (n =1, 5%). Four patients (21%) presented Sjögren syndrome at the moment of the diagnosis; three were MALT lymphomas and one patient had follicular lymphoma. The diagnosis was made with different surgical procedures.

Conclusion:

ELHN constitute a singular presentation of onco-hematology neoplasms. In our series, these tumors occurred within a wide age range and were more common in women. The parotid gland was more commonly affected. The diagnosis was made by surgical biopsy or resection of the area affected.

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