A 21-year-old woman presented to the maxillofacial surgery department with a painless tumour on the left parotid gland that had been present for about 8 months. Physical examination revealed a solid lesion at the level of the parotid gland, not attached to deep planes. An ultrasound with fine needle aspiration (FNA) was requested, which revealed a well-defined parotid nodule of about 25mm in maximum diameter, predominantly cystic, with a solid pole inside of 9mm. It showed no vascularisation on colour Doppler; the FNA was inconclusive. In view of these ultrasound findings, the study was completed with a computed tomography (CT) scan of the neck with intravenous contrast. The CT scan showed a well-defined tumour of about 22mm, located in the superficial lobe of the left parotid, containing fat inside, and an 8mm rounded solid nodule on its posterior wall. All of this was compatible by imaging with parotid cystic teratoma.

In view of these findings, surgery was proposed to the patient, which she accepted. A facial nerve-sparing suprafacial parotidectomy was performed with en bloc resection of the lesion. At the end of the surgery, all branches of the facial nerve were monitored to check their integrity and function. The surgical specimen obtained after resection showed a fragment of epidermis with hair follicles.
The pathological findings confirmed the definitive diagnosis of a benign mature cystic teratoma of the left parotid gland, in which epidermal cells, mesenchymal cells, adipocytes, sebaceous glands and mature chondrocytes were found. No atypia were observed.

Postoperatively, the patient presented with mild paresis, recovering full facial mimicry 4 months postoperatively. Currently, 14 months after surgery, there is no recurrence of the lesion.
