Abstract

The neoplasms of the Parpharyngeal Space (PPS) is rare 0.5% - 1% of all head and neck tumors [1]. The PPS is an inverted cone-shaped region that extends from the skull base to the hyoid bone. A complex structure called the tensorvascular- styloid fascia, divides the PPS into the prestyloid and poststyloid compartments. The PPS can be involved by four different types of neoplastic lesions: primary tumors (benign or malignant), metastatic lymph nodes, lymph node involvement by lymphoproliferative diseases, and tumors arising from adjacent sites that secondarily extend into the PPS [2-4].

Some 50% of the neoplasms arise from the deep lobe of the parotid gland or minor salivary gland. These lesions are typically benign pleomorphic adenoma and involve the prestyloid compartment of the PPS . In the retrostyloid compartment, the most common tumours are neurogenic (schwannoma, paraganglioma, neurofibroma [5].

The goal of this paper is to report two cases of salivary gland tumours in PPS and the importance of imaging studies in the evaluation and differential diagnosis of tumors that involve it.