Minor salivary gland calculi. A clinical and histopathological study of 49 cases

The clinical and histopathological characteristics of 49 previously unpublished cases of sialolithiasis of minor salivary glands are presented. The lesions are usually solitary, small, submucosal nodules, which are hard or firm and freely movable in the surrounding tissue and on rare occasions may be multiple. They are most often seen in the buccal mucosa and the upper lip of patients in the 5th, 6th or 7th decade, but are rarely found in the lower lip and palate. The authors found that clinicians usually failed to include calculi in the differential diagnosis and further, they concluded that minor salivary gland calculi are more common than generally believed. In contrast to other studies of calculi in major and minor salivary glands, the periphery of the stones was found to be less frequently lamellated and mineralized. The authors also confirmed the finding of mucous cell metaplasia of ductal epithelium and commented on its possible role in the pathogenesis of sialolithiasis.