Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology
Salivary heterotopia of the parathyroid gland: A report of two cases and review of the literature

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Two cases of periparathyroid salivary gland heterotopia are described. A review of the records of the Department of Pathology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, over a 4-year period, identified 759 surgical specimens containing parathyroid gland tissue. Of these, 2 (0.26%) contained foci of ectopic salivary gland tissue. Both cases were associated with cyst formation. To date, 9 additional cases of heterotopic salivary gland tissue associated with the parathyroid gland have been described in the literature.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

The records of the Department of Pathology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, were searched over a 4-year period (1/1/1998 to 1/1/2002). All cases in which the final pathology report contained a reference to “parathyroid” were identified.

Results

Of a total of 111,414 surgical accessions, 759 specimens containing parathyroid tissue were identified. Of these 759 cases, 2 (0.26%) contained foci of ectopic salivary gland tissue.

Discussion

Two cases of heterotopic salivary gland tissue of the parathyroid gland area that occurred in relation to both the superior and inferior parathyroid glands are presented. This represented 0.26% of all parathyroid gland–containing surgical specimens accessioned at our institution over a 4-year period. In both cases, cyst formation was noted adjacent to the heterotopic salivary gland tissue.

Youngs and Scofield,9 reviewing cases of ectopic salivary gland tissue in the files of the Armed Forces

Conclusion

While heterotopic salivary gland tissue has been described in a number of different anatomic locations, its occurrence in relation to the parathyroid glands is quite uncommon. We describe 2 cases of heterotopic salivary gland tissue of the parathyroid gland area. This represents only 0.26% of all parathyroid gland–containing surgical specimens accessioned at our institution over a 4-year period.

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