Salivary gland dynamic imaging for salivary gland damage in Sjogren′s syndrome patients with normal Young′s modulus value

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the damage of the salivary gland in Sjogren′s syndrome (SS) patients with normal Young′s modulus value (YMV) using salivary gland dynamic imaging (SGDI). Methods A total of 78 parotid glands and submandibular glands of SS patients and 100 parotid glands and submandibular glands of healthy people were collected in this retrospective study. The difference of YMV between 2 groups was analyzed with two-sample t test; receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of YMV were drawn to calculate the area under carve (AUC) and cut-off values. SGDI was used to observe the uptake ratio of 15 min (UR15) value in the SS salivary glands with normal YMV. Results The YMV of left parotid/submandibular glands and right parotid/submandibular glands were not statistically different in both SS patients and healthy people (t values: from -1.192 to -0.404, all P>0.05). The YMV of parotid/submandibular glands in SS patients was higher than that in healthy people: (15.39±8.08) vs (9.33±2.21) kPa, (14.35±5.33) vs (9.18±2.36) kPa (t values: 7.169 and 8.662, both P 0.05). The UR15 value of 78 SS parotid glands and submandibular glands were 1.42±0.97 and 1.19±0.83, respectively. About 58.33%(14/24) parotid glands with normal YMV (<10.85 kPa) and 76.19% (16/21) submandibular glands with normal YMV (<10.95 kPa) had reduced cellular uptake in SS patients. Conclusions Parotid glands and submandibular glands in SS patients are damaged, and the tissue hardness is increased. SGDI can discover the cellular damage in SS salivary glands with normal YMV. Key words: Sjogren′s syndrome; Parotid gland; Submandibular gland; Radionuclide imaging; Sodium pertechnetate Tc 99m