Minoru HIRANO¹, Ei UENO³, Hiroko S. TSUNODA², Yuji AIYOSHI³

¹Endocrine Surgical Group, University of Tsukuba, ²Radiology Group, University of Tsukuba, ³Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba

キーワード : Sialolithiasis, Ultrasonography, Sialography

Sialolithiasis is the formation of a calcific mass or masses in the salivary glands or duct system. It is a common disease of the salivary glands. We carried out ultrasonic examination of 17 cases that were diagnosed as sialolithiasis by pathological examinations. Salivary calculi were recognized as hyperechoic masses accompanied by posterior acoustic shadows in 16 cases. Only one case was calculus not detected. Parenchyma of the salivary glands had hypoechoic and heterogenic areas in 8 cases. These changes of parenchyma were probably caused by inflammation due to salivary calculus. Because it is simple, noninvasive, and provides an accurate diagnosis, ultrasonic examination is very useful for sialolithiasis.