American Journal of Neuroradiology, Vol 19, Issue 7 1199-1203, Copyright © 1998 by American Society of Neuroradiology
ARTICLES |
MR sialography in patients with Sjogren syndrome
H Tonami, Y Ogawa, M Matoba, Y Kuginuki, H Yokota, K Higashi, T Okimura, I Yamamoto and S Sugai
Department of Radiology, Kanazawa Medical University, Ishikawa, Japan.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of MR sialography of the parotid gland ducts in the diagnosis and staging of Sjogren syndrome. METHODS: MR imaging was performed on a 1.5-T unit with a neck phased-array coil. MR sialographic source images were obtained using a heavily T2-weighted fast spin-echo sequence with spectral fat suppression. All images were analyzed on the basis of maximum intensity projection reconstruction. Five healthy control subjects and 51 patients with definite Sjogren syndrome (43 with primary disease and eight with secondary disease) were examined with MR sialography. A labial gland biopsy was performed in all patients and histopathologic grading was done by means of focal scores. The findings of MR sialography were compared with the results of labial gland biopsy to determine the effectiveness of the technique in the diagnosis and staging of Sjogren syndrome. RESULTS: In all five control subjects, the main duct and the primary branching ducts of the parotid glands were clearly visible on MR sialographic images. In patients with Sjogren syndrome, a punctate, globular, cavitary, or destructive appearance was well seen within the parotid glands. Findings obtained at MR sialography correlated well with the results of labial gland biopsy. CONCLUSION: MR sialography has the potential to produce diagnostic findings in the parotid gland ducts of patients with Sjogren syndrome. Our results suggest that this method will augment and possibly replace X-ray sialography.