Abstract
This study was done to determine whether the sublingual gland ducts could be visualized and/or their function assessed by MR sialography and dynamic MR sialography and to elucidate the clinical significance of the visualization and/or evaluation of the function of sublingual gland ducts by clinical application of these techniques. In 20 adult volunteers, 19 elderly volunteers, and 7 patients with sublingual gland disease, morphological and functional evaluations were done by MR sialography and dynamic MR sialography. Next, four parameters, including the time-dependent changes (change ratio) in the maximum area of the detectable sublingual gland ducts in dynamic MR sialographic images and data were analyzed. Sublingual gland ducts could be accurately visualized in 16 adult volunteers, 12 elderly volunteers, and 5 patients. No significant differences in the four parameters in detectable duct areas of sublingual glands were found among the three groups. In one patient with a ranula, the lesion could be correctly diagnosed as a ranula by MR sialography because the mass was clearly derived from sublingual gland ducts. This is the first report of successful visualization of sublingual gland ducts. In addition, the present study suggests that MR sialography can be more useful in the diagnosis of patients with lesions of sublingual gland ducts.
Highlights
There have been many studies of clinical applications of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for evaluation, in addition to the evaluation of morphology, due to the higher quality of MRI technology [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
The clinical significance of the visualization and/or evaluation of the function of sublingual gland ducts was evaluated by clinical application of these techniques for some patients with sublingual gland diseases
One possible explanation is that the sublingual gland ducts are so thin and short that they cannot be visualized in all subjects using MR sialography
Summary
There have been many studies of clinical applications of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for evaluation, in addition to the evaluation of morphology, due to the higher quality of MRI technology [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. The visualization of the sublingual gland ducts is not considered even on MR imaging because it is difficult to visualize the very thin and short ducts, as seen in anatomy textbooks [13]. The sublingual gland ducts could be visualized. The clinical significance of the visualization and/or evaluation of the function of sublingual gland ducts was evaluated by clinical application of these techniques for some patients with sublingual gland diseases
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