Structural organization of the contralateral salivary glands

BACKGROUND: It has been established that there are no functional differences between the paired salivary glands, but the presence or absence of structural differences in the contralateral salivary glands remains unknown.

AIM: To determine the presence of features of the contralateral salivary glands’ structural organization, which should be taken into account in the process of differential diagnosis in patients with various diseases of the salivary glands when analyzing sialograms.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: In 60 patients with diseases of the salivary glands, digital subtraction sialography of the parotid (right n=33, left n=26) and submandibular (right n=17, left n=19) glands was performed. The parameters of the paired glands were compared: the number and time of filling of the ducts with the water-soluble non-ionic contrast agent iodixanol. The sample was formed without taking into account gender, age and diseases. Cases with stones or ductal strictures were excluded. The significance of differences was assessed using Student's t-test. The results were considered significant at p ≤0.05.

RESULTS: The contrast time for the parotid glands (n=59) averaged 29.8±8.9 s: on the right — 31.0±8.0 s (n=33), on the left — 28.2±9.6 s (n= 26; t=1.2219); submandibular glands (n=36) — 28.6±11.6 s: on the right — 30.2±14.4 s (n=19), on the left — 27.3±8.3 s (n=17; t= 0.7284). The amount of drug injected into the ducts reflected their volume, which we considered as an accurate characteristic of their structural state. 1.4±0.3 ml of iodixanol (Visipack) was injected into the parotid glands (n=59): on the right — 1.4±0.3 ml (n=33), on the left — 1.4±0.3 ml (n =26; t=0). 1.2±0.3 ml was injected into the submandibular glands (n=35): on the right — 1.2±0.4 ml (n=17), on the left — 1.1±0.3 ml (n=18; t=0.8399). There was no significant difference between the contralateral glands, but there was a significant diffe¬rence between the parotid and submandibular glands (t=3.1247; p ≤0.001). When conducting scientific analysis, data from the contralateral salivary glands could be combined into a single sample. The amount of drug injected into the ducts served as a characteristic of the structural state of the gland.

CONCLUSION: The contralateral salivary glands do not have significant structural differences, and structural changes in the same patient are of the same type.