Decreased salivary function in patients with end-stage renal disease requiring hemodialysis

It has been speculated that impaired salivary flow is common in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring hemodialysis (HD). The aim of this study is to investigate the relation between oral manifestations and salivary function in patients with ESRD undergoing HD. Salivary function was measured by quantitative salivary scintigraphy in 60 patients with ESRD undergoing HD, as well as in 36 age- and sex-matched healthy controls for comparison. The 60 patients with ESRD undergoing HD were separated into two subgroups: group 1, 30 patients with oral manifestations, and group 2, 30 patients without oral manifestations. After an intravenous injection of 5 mCi of technetium 99m pertechnetate, sequential images at 1 minute per frame were acquired for 30 minutes. The 1- and 15-minute uptake ratios were calculated as the tracer uptakes in the four major salivary glands over the background regions of interest. Saliva excretion was stimulated by one 200-mg tablet of ascorbic acid administered orally 15 minutes post-tracer injection, then the maximal excretion ratios of the four major salivary glands were calculated. Our results show significantly poorer salivary function in patients with ESRD with oral manifestations compared with patients with ESRD without oral manifestations and healthy controls by means of objective and quantitative salivary scintigraphy.