Pediatric Mass Lesions of the Head and Neck Region and Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy Results

1. To provide a classification of pediatric mass of the head and neck region and evaluate their frequency. 2. To examine the findings of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in pediatric patients along with its contribution to diagnosis. Totally, 233 pediatric patients (125 boys and 108 girls) operated at Başkent University for head and neck mass were included. Clinical, radiological, and histopathological data were retrieved from medical records. The mean age was 119±65 months, and the mean duration of follow-up was 75±49 months. Localization of the masses was as follows: 208 (89%) in the neck, 21 (9%) in the oral cavity, 2 (1%) in the neck and nasopharynx, and two (1%) in the larynx. The most common surgical procedure was open excisional biopsy (n=105, 45%) followed by cystic mass excision (n=72, 31%) and salivary gland excision (n=33, 14%). Based on histopathological findings, benign cystic lesions were the most common disease group (n=77, 33.1%), whereas reactive lymphadenopathy was the most common condition (n=36, 15%) when a single disease was considered. Infectious/inflammatory diseases, malignancies, and benign salivary gland diseases were present in 49 (21%), 24 (10.3%), and 22 (9.4%) patients, respectively. FNAB was performed in 29.8% of the patients with an accuracy of 90.3% (95% CI, 80.1-96.4). The differential diagnosis of head and neck masses during childhood includes a wide spectrum with the different conditions being benign cystic diseases of congenital origin and reactive lymphadenopathies. Owing to its high predictive value, FNAB represents a rapid and reliable method that can be commonly used in both adult and pediatric patients.