Warthin’s tumor: An experience of the General Hospital «Calixto García». Havana, Cuba

Resumen

Background: Warthin’s tumor, a benign tumor of the salivary glands, was fi rst described by Dr. Hildrebrand in 1896. It was later extensively described by Dr. Warthin in 1929. It represents the second most frequent neoplasia found in the salivary glands. It constitutes 10% of all salivary glands tumors. Methods: A salivary gland retrospective study was conducted at the Pathological Anatomy Department of the «Calixto García» Hospital in Havana, Cuba. The study was conducted in the period comprised between January 2001 and December 2008. Two oral pathology experts rediagnosed the cases following diagnostic criteria proposed in 2005 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Results: Out of 159 studied cases, 113 (71.1%) were benign tumors (48 male patients, 65 female, average age 50.8 [± 15], age range 20-80 years). Most frequently found tumor was pleomorphic adenoma, which counted 77 cases (68.1%) followed by Warthin’s tumor with 33 cases (20.7%) of all included salivary glands tumors and 29.2% of benign tumors. Conclusions: The present study revealed the fact that Warthin’s tumor proportion is among the highest reported in recent years in scientifi c literature.