Imaging tumors of the minor salivary glands

Magnetic resonance imaging evaluations of nine histopathologically confirmed minor salivary gland tumors were made retrospectively and compared with evaluations of images obtained by computed tomography. All tumors had low-to-intermediate T1 signal intensities and intermediate-to-high T2 signal intensities. Malignant tumors had an irregular margin in all but one case. Benign tumors invariably had well-defined margins. In terms of tumor margination, the magnetic resonance imaging findings correlated well with the histopathologic findings. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated the internal architecture of the minor salivary gland tumors multidirectionally and was superior to computed tomography in this respect and in the ability to locate the tumors.