Adenomatoid hyperplasia of minor salivary glands.

Adenomatoid hyperplasia of minor salivary glands is an uncommon clinicopathologic entity. It comprises clinical swelling resembling a neoplasm with a histologic picture of aggregates of normal-appearing salivary gland tissue in excess of that anticipated for the anatomic site. The significance of this lesion is derived from its clinical resemblance to a neoplasm of salivary gland origin. This study adds 40 new cases to the literature and analyzes their clinical and histologic features. Most of the lesions were located on the hard and soft palates. The exact nature of the minor salivary gland hyperplasia is not clear. Some of the cases may represent a hamartoma or a reactive hyperplasia, but in most cases the nature of the hyperplasia is idiopathic.