Abstract Background We compared the ultrasound features, superb microvascular imaging (SMI) and micro vessel density (MVD) of pleomorphic adenoma (PA), Warthin’s tumor (WT) and basal cell adenoma (BCA) to explore the clinic value of SMI in differential diagnosis of benign tumors of parotid gland. Methods The vascular distributions and grade by color doppler flow imaging (CDFI) and SMI, as well as vascular index (VI) of 249 parotid gland masses from 217 patients were analyzed. Results The internal echogenicity of BCA are more homogeneous in comparing with WT and PA(P