Anatomy of parotid gland and its secretory ducts in sheep

The parotid gland in sheep ends freely in front of the masseter muscle, and paracondylary section of occipital bone and extends deep until pterygoid extends of sphenoid bone and hyoid bone. The structure of salivary glands in mammals has been thoroughly studied using histological and sialographic method. This study aimed to reveal the detailed anatomic features and race-specific differences of the canal system of the parotid glands in Akkaraman sheep by using the corrosion cast technique.

Thirteen sheep parotid glands from 7 Akkaraman sheep were used in this study. Parotid glands were removed from their places with ducts. Measurements were made with a calliper from back to front, top to bottom and inside to outside. After dissection of the parotid glands, their volumes were measured according to the 'Archimedes principle'. Also, 13 sheep parotid glands were examined using the polyester resin method.

In the present study, our average metric results were: length of parotid duct was 10.92 ± 1.027 cm, length of parotid gland was 5.87 ± 1.04 cm, volume of parotid gland was 12.50 ± 2.48 cm³, thickness of parotid gland was 0.75 ± 0.36 cm and width of parotid gland was 4.07 ± 0.43 cm. The average weight of the parotid gland of Akkaraman sheep was identified as 25.3 g. Accessory parotid gland was not encountered in the current study.

It was observed that polyester entered into the parotid duct and filled up until the acinus and made both acinus and secretory ducts well-examined in this study. It was also observed that the parotid gland consisted of lobes and lobules. The average number of lobes was 12. The number of lobules in a lobe varied between 3 and 16, each lobe consisted of an average of 9 lobules. It was found that each lobe has its own lobar duct.