[Small salivary glands in the paratonsillar space in children]

Was to study the changes in the small salivary glands in chronic tonsillitis and paratonsillar abscess in children. A histological examination of the palatine tonsils of 22 children aged 5 to 14 years old who had a paratonsillar abscess and 18 children suffering from chronic tonsillitis was carried out. Fragments of small salivary glands, located both superficially, in the mucous membrane between the stratified squamous non-keratinizing epithelium and the lymphoid tissue of the palatine tonsils, and between the muscles of the amygdala were found in 42 of the 80 (52.5%) tonsils studied. Along with the unchanged glandular structure, 26 (61.9%) samples revealed areas of destruction foci in small salivary glands with signs of inflammatory and compensatory regenerative activity. The presence of separate interlobular ducts of the salivary glands with pronounced periductal lymph - macrophage infiltration was noted. The subepithelial lymph-macrophage infiltrates found in the lamina propria are associated with the exit of the excretory ducts of the salivary glands to the surface of the mucous membrane. Many thin-walled veins are surrounded by perivascular lymphocellular infiltrates. The inflammatory and post-inflammatory changes in the small salivary glands revealed by us in children with chronic tonsillitis do not exclude their participation in the pathogenesis of paratonsillitis. At the same time, inflammation in the salivary gland can be both primary, as a result of its infection with live microorganisms from the tissues of the tonsil, and secondary, due to the compression of the excretory ducts by the edematous tissue of the tonsil in acute tonsillitis.