The contribution of the combined use of US and cytology is evaluated in the diagnosis of masses in the salivary glands and adjacent structures. US had 87.2% sensitivity in locating the mass; its accuracy in defining both physical structure and benign/malignant nature of the lesion was 91% and 74%, respectively. Thus US, after demonstrating a lesion, does not always allow the exact definition of its characteristic. In many of these cases, other imaging modalities do not help either. In our series of cases, cytology allowed an unquestionable diagnosis to be made in 87.2% of cases, and the combined use of US and cytology rose the figure to 97%. The only limitation is the evaluation of the deep extent of large masses: in such cases CT or, if available, MR imaging are recommended.
