[The differential diagnosis of neck masses]

This article on the differential diagnosis of cervical masses is a review of the main causes of the masses that an extra-oral exam can detect. Some of these masses are of particular interest to the dentist; they are notably cellulitis of dental origin, salivary pathologies and cervical adenopathies. There is no need to stress the major importance of the role played by the cervical adenopathies in the diagnosis of leukaemias, lymphomas and disorders linked to the HIV virus. The first part of this article focuses mainly on the differential diagnosis of cervical adenopathies, while the non-ganglionic masses will be discussed in another article.