Diagnostic Imaging Techniques for Salivary Gland Disorders Quiz

Diagnostic Imaging Techniques for Salivary Gland Disorders

• Diagnostic imaging techniques for salivary gland disorders include plain film radiography, sialography, MRI, CT, ultrasound, and scintigraphy.
• Sialography is a radiographic technique using a contrast agent to image the ductal system of salivary glands, providing detailed visualization of the ductal morphology.
• Sialography procedure involves three phases: preoperative, filling, and emptying, and aims to opacify the ductal system all the way to the acini.
• Normal appearance for sialogram is described as "tree limbs," with no area of the gland devoid of ducts.
• Sialography is indicated for evaluating chronic inflammatory diseases and ductal pathoses, with contraindications including acute infection and known sensitivity to iodine-containing compounds.
• Scintigraphy using 99m Technetium (Tc)-pertechnetate provides a functional study of the salivary glands and is the only technique for functional analysis of salivary glands.
• CT is useful in evaluating structures in and adjacent to salivary glands, displaying soft and hard tissues and useful in assessing acute inflammatory processes, abscesses, cysts, mucoceles, and neoplasms.
• MRI provides better images of soft tissue structures than CT, demonstrating the margins of salivary gland masses, internal structures, and regional extension of lesions into adjacent tissues/spaces.
• Ultrasonography helps in differentiating solid masses from cystic ones in the salivary glands.
• Sialolithiasis is the formation of calcified obstructions within the salivary duct, with radiographic features varying based on degree of calcification and shape, and sialography being helpful in locating undetectable obstructions.
• Sialodochitis is the inflammation of the ductal system of the salivary glands, with a characteristic "sausage-string" appearance on sialography.
• Bacterial sialadenitis is an acute or chronic bacterial infection of the terminal acini or parenchyma of the salivary glands.

Salivary Gland Disorders and Diagnostic Imaging

• Sialography is contraindicated in acute infections due to the risk of contrast agent extravasation and severe pain.
• Sialography is useful for diagnosing and staging autoimmune disorders, showing punctate and globular collections of contrast agent in early stages, progressing to irregularly shaped cavitary sialectases as the disease advances.
• Sialadenosis is a nonneoplastic, noninflammatory enlargement of the parotid salivary glands, commonly found in diabetics and alcoholics.
• Cystic lesions in the parotid gland may be congenital, lymphoepithelial, dermoid, or acquired, and are visualized through sialography and ultrasound.
• Ultrasound is used to visualize echo-free masses with well-defined margins, representing cystic lesions in the parotid gland.
• MRI is the preferred modality for imaging benign salivary gland neoplasms, especially in the submandibular gland, due to its superior soft tissue contrast resolution.
• Sjögren syndrome can present with a "ball-in-hand" appearance on sialography, indicative of a space-occupying mass in the parotid gland.
• Hemangiomas, benign neoplasms of proliferating endothelial cells, may be visualized with phleboliths and well-defined margins on sialography, CT, and MRI.
• Malignant tumors in the parotid gland account for about 20% of cases and can be challenging to differentiate from benign tumors, often presenting with ill-defined margins and invasion of adjacent soft tissues on imaging.
• CT imaging can reveal an ill-defined tumor replacing the parotid gland, indicative of adenocarcinoma.
• Ultrasound may show a heterogeneous hypoechoic pattern in malignant tumors, as seen in adenoid cystic carcinoma of the submandibular gland.
• The radiographic features of malignant tumors vary based on grade, aggressiveness, location, and type of tumor, making it difficult to determine malignancy in some cases.

Diagnostic Imaging Techniques for Salivary Gland Disorders

• Diagnostic imaging techniques for salivary gland disorders include plain film radiography, sialography, MRI, CT, ultrasound, and scintigraphy.
• Sialography is a radiographic technique using a contrast agent to image the ductal system of salivary glands, providing detailed visualization of the ductal morphology.
• Sialography procedure involves three phases: preoperative, filling, and emptying, and aims to opacify the ductal system all the way to the acini.
• Normal appearance for sialogram is described as "tree limbs," with no area of the gland devoid of ducts.
• Sialography is indicated for evaluating chronic inflammatory diseases and ductal pathoses, with contraindications including acute infection and known sensitivity to iodine-containing compounds.
• Scintigraphy using 99m Technetium (Tc)-pertechnetate provides a functional study of the salivary glands and is the only technique for functional analysis of salivary glands.
• CT is useful in evaluating structures in and adjacent to salivary glands, displaying soft and hard tissues and useful in assessing acute inflammatory processes, abscesses, cysts, mucoceles, and neoplasms.
• MRI provides better images of soft tissue structures than CT, demonstrating the margins of salivary gland masses, internal structures, and regional extension of lesions into adjacent tissues/spaces.
• Ultrasonography helps in differentiating solid masses from cystic ones in the salivary glands.
• Sialolithiasis is the formation of calcified obstructions within the salivary duct, with radiographic features varying based on degree of calcification and shape, and sialography being helpful in locating undetectable obstructions.
• Sialodochitis is the inflammation of the ductal system of the salivary glands, with a characteristic "sausage-string" appearance on sialography.
• Bacterial sialadenitis is an acute or chronic bacterial infection of the terminal acini or parenchyma of the salivary glands.