Vascular malformations of the parotid region

Five adult patients with vascular malformations in the parotid region are described. Three of these patients had lumps in the parotid gland clinically indistinguishable from parotid tumours: one had a diffuse swelling of the check, and the fifth had a pulsatile tumour in the deep lobe of the gland. Two patients had a characteristic sign-the lump in the cheek became more obvious, both visually and on palpation, when the masseter muscle was tensed. In 3 of the patients calcified opacities, resembling phleboliths, were demonstrated on plain X-ray examination. This is only the third report of vascular malformations of the parotid region in the British literature; no other report of a pulsating tumour within the parotid gland has been found in a search of the world literature.