[Clinico-statistical, morphologic and microstructural analysis of 400 cases of sialolithiasis]

After reviewing the successive phases of lithogenesis, from dyschylia to outright calculosis, the clinico-epidemiological data on 400 cases of salivary calculosis with incidence according to location (94% submandibular, with 72% intraductal calculi), sex (70% male), age (86% between the second and fifth decades), concomitant pathologies (diabetes mellitus in 25% of cases, arterial hypertension in 20% of cases, chronic hepatopathies in 10% of cases) are presented. The morphological and microstructural aspects of the calculi, observed in polarised light under the optical microscope are reported. The scanty quantity of inorganic tissue contained and the presence of multiple and multidirectional growth nuclei in every calculus examined are pointed out.