Sonography of nonneoplastic disorders of the salivary glands

We examined 637 patients with salivary gland disorders by real-time sonography. In 270 patients, the possibility of neoplasia of the salivary glands could not be excluded by ultrasound. In the remaining 367 patients, the following disorders were diagnosed sonographically: acute inflammation (72 patients), Sjögren's syndrome or chronic inflammation (81 patients), abscess (9 patients), sialolithiasis (192 patients), and cysts (13 patients). The present study discusses the ultrasound appearances of a variety of diseases and the indications and limits of sonography in the evaluation of salivary gland pathology.