Post-radiotherapy morphological changes of parotid gland are dose- and radiotherapy technique-dependent

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Free AccessCorrespondencePost-radiotherapy morphological changes of parotid gland are dose- and radiotherapy technique-dependentM T C Ying, S C H Cheng, V W C Wu and D L W KwongM T C YingDepartment of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaSearch for more papers by this author, S C H ChengDepartment of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaSearch for more papers by this author, V W C WuDepartment of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaSearch for more papers by this author and D L W KwongDepartment of Clinical Oncology, Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:13 Feb 2014https://doi.org/10.1259/bjr/30087983SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail AboutThe Editor,We would like to thank the author for providing the additional information on pre- and post-therapeutic assessment of submandibular glands in CT [1]. It is of great interest to know the time dependent changes of the submandibular glands following radiochemotherapy [1]. Regarding this, we would like to provide further information from our recent studies [2,3]. In investigating the sonographic appearances of parotid glands in two groups of patients (nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients received intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) with parotid sparing, and NPC patients received conventional radiotherapy without parotid sparing) and healthy subjects, we found that parotid glands in patients treated with IMRT had a sonographic appearance similar to that in healthy subjects (i.e. usually hyperechoic, homogeneous and marginally seen intra-parotid ducts), while parotid glands in patients treated with conventional RT tended to be hypoechoic, heterogeneous and clearly seen intra-parotid ducts [2]. The result of this study shows that the sonographic appearance of the parotid gland in post-radiotherapy patients was dependent on the radiotherapy techniques; this may be related to the different radiation doses delivered to the parotid glands.In another study, we compared the parotid gland volume of a group of NPC patients before and 2–3 years after radiotherapy using CT [3]. The results of the study showed that the parotid gland volume decreased after radiotherapy and the degree of parotid volume shrinkage was dose-dependent [3].The assessment of salivary glands after radiotherapy is important [4]. Radiologists and sonographers should be aware of the dose- and radiotherapy technique-dependent variations of parotid glands when examining patients with previous head and neck radiotherapy.References1 Gossner J . Post-radiogenic density changes on CT of the salivary gland are time- dependent. Br J Radiol 2011;84 Link ISI, Google Scholar2 Cheng SCH , Ying MTC , Kwong DLW , Wu VWC . Sonographic appearance of parotid glands in patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy or conventional radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Ultrasound Med Biol 2011;37:220–30. Crossref Medline ISI, Google Scholar3 Wu VWC , Ying MTC , Kwong DLW . Evaluation of radiation-induced changes to parotid glands following conventional radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Br J Radiol 2011;84:843–849. Link ISI, Google Scholar4 Cheng SCH , Wu VWC , Kwong DLW , Ying MTC . Assessment of post-radiotherapy salivary glands. Br J Radiol 2011;84:393–402. Link ISI, Google Scholar Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byA Review on the Assessment of Radiation Induced Salivary Gland Damage After Radiotherapy17 October 2019 | Frontiers in Oncology, Vol. 9 Volume 84, Issue 1008December 2011Pages: 1061-e245 2011 The British Institute of Radiology History ReceivedJune 28,2011AcceptedJuly 05,2011Published onlineFebruary 13,2014 Metrics Download PDF