Sialoblastoma: MRI findings

Abstract

Sialoblastoma is a rare, aggressive and potentially malignant salivary gland tumour diagnosed in the neonatal period. A total of 28 cases have been reported in the literature, but reports of the imaging findings are limited. We describe a neonate with a right parotid sialoblastoma. MRI showed a large facial mass, which was mostly hypointense to the brain on T1-weighted images and mildly hyperintense on T2-weighted images. There were foci of haemorrhage and necrosis. Heterogeneous and weak contrast enhancement was detected on contrast-enhanced images. The tumour invaded the maxilla and adjacent muscles.

Treatment of metastatic sialoblastoma with chemotherapy and surgery

“…On MRI, the soft tissue mass typically demonstrates low-intermediate T1 signal and moderately high T2 signal. The finding of increased T2 signal has been attributed to the high nucleus/cytoplasmic ratio, characteristic of blastomas [9]. In the perinatal period, Doppler ultrasound examination can be helpful in differentiating cystic from solid lesions and in providing evidence of vascular involvement.…”

Sialoblastoma of salivary glands in children: Chemotherapy should be discussed as an alternative to mutilating surgery

“…Sialoblastoma is a very rare congenital salivary gland tumor, only 26 cases are reported [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. This tumor may exist before birth [7,11,13,18], or may be discovered after delivery [6,8,19].…”

Pediatric Cancer in the Head and Neck

“…On contrastenhanced T1-weighted images sialoblastoma usually demonstrates heterogeneous contrast enhancement [ 21 ]. Intralesional hemorrhage and necrosis have also been described [ 104 ].…”