Due to the referral pattern at these institutions, the distribution of the salivary gland lesions shown in this table does not necessarily reflect the true incidence in the general population. Correct identification and immobilization of the lesion should allow the pathologist to avoid undersampling the lesion. Interpretation error Pathologist experience will minimize this error. Technical problems Air drying is one of the most common technical problems. Bias Pathologist bias, augmented by the clinician s opinion, has been shown to lead to errors in diagnosis.
Some tumors have special characteristics that can be discovered using special techniques.
While these are helpful, they are not always completely diagnostic. PAS can identify the glycogen in acinic cell carcinomas. Some spindle cell myoepitheliomas may be very difficult to diagnose without help of positive S100 immunostain. Vimentin confirms the immuno-viability of cells. Electron microscopy can identify mitochondria in myoepitheliomas.